Kinderzahl und Migrationshintergrund: Ein Vergleich zwischen Frauen türkischer Herkunft mit oder ohne eigene Wanderungserfahrung sowie Frauen ohne Migrationshintergrund in Westdeutschland

Abstract

The fertility of women of Turkish origin significantly differs from German women's fertility. Thus, the basic question is which factors may lead to the fact that the former's fertility behavior starts to converge to that of women without migration background. Based on comparative analyses of the German Microcensus 2012, this article presents findings with regard to the number of children born to a) women with a Turkish migration background and b) women without migration background, both belonging to the same age group that was born between 1963 and 1977. The analyses take into account: a) having migration experience of one's own, b) duration of living in Germany, c) educational attainment, d) employment status, and e) partnership status. The results indicate that a differentiation with regard to both migration experience and duration of living in Germany, interacting with the level of education, is essential. Highly educated women with Turkish roots born in Germany display a parity that is similar to the parity of equally highly educated women not having a migration background. When comparing women of the subgroups who have lower levels of education in common, the differences in fertility do persist.