Discrimination and Chinese fertility in Canada

The study examines Chinese fertility in Canada in the context of minority-status and fertility. Chinese-Canadians are compared with British-Canadians, who are considered in this analysis as the majority group. The study is unique in three ways. First, we argue that discrimination brings a minority group not only psychological insecurity but also social-economic insecurity, which can be measured by Chinese husbands' economic status relative to the British. Second, we analyze the relationship between discrimination against the Chinese at the social class level and Chinese fertility behavior at the individual level, which has been ignored by most previous studies. Third, we describe "insecurities" effects to explain the fertility behavior of the Chinese across social classes, including the lower classes to which many researchers believe the minority status hypothesis is not applicable. We conclude that discrimination variations over social classes combined with normative influence are a major factor in causing class fertility differentials between the Chinese and the British in Canada.     

Segmented assimilation and minority cultures of mobility

Recent work on second-generation immigrants posits that racial discrimination and a restructuring economy are likely to create different paths of assimilation for recent non-white immigrants than earlier European immigrants followed, and may even decouple acculturation and economic mobility. But while these discussions have considered the minority lower class as a possible destination for assimilation, middle-class minorities have been largely ignored. This article considers how the experiences of middle-class minorities might alter our models of second-generation incorporation. We propose that the minority middle classes share a minority culture of mobility, a set of cultural elements responsive to distinctive problems that usually accompany minority middle-class status, including problems of interracial encounters in public settings and inter-class relations within the minority community. We illustrate this minority culture of mobility with a brief case study of the African-American middle class, and discuss its implications for immigrants.     

A relative cohort size forecasting model of Canadian total live births

Easterlin and Condran suggest that Canadian fertility is dictated by a relative cohort size (or relative income) model of fertility which points to a resurgence of fertility rather than a decline in the next 2 decades. Samuelson (1976) formalized Easterlin's model and shows that if the Easterlin effect is sufficiently strong, cycles in fertility will result. Ahlburg (1983) demonstrates that this model fits the US postwar fertility data very well and predicts the revival of fertility in the 1980s and 1990s. This model is applied to Canadian data as a check on Easterlin and Condran's earlier analysis and to determine whether the model also predicts a revival of Canadian fertility. According to the model, increases in the size of a birth cohort relative to preceding cohorts reduce that cohort's income relative to that of smaller cohorts and consequently reduce the fertility of the large cohort. In this manner, the size of a particular cohort is a function of the size of previous birth cohorts. The model assumes that immigration is zero, or, at least, relatively small. From the statistics, it does not appear that emigration or immigration was sufficiently large to alter significantly the age-structure of the Canadian population. Additionally, foreign-born women have much lower fertility than native-born women, particularly among postwar immigrants. Thus, the model outlined may be a useful approximation to the Canadian experience. Table 1 reports the results of estimating the model for Canadian data for the 1941-79 period. The results are consistent with the relative cohort size model that is outlined. The variables were correctly signed and significant at the 0.05 level in 1-tailed tests. The overall equation was significant at the 0.91 level. The forecasts with 20-year lags from the relative cohort model lie between the low and medium forecasts of Denton et al. until the end of this decade and between the medium and high forecast for the remainder of the 20th century. The model based on 25-year generational lags predicts 20% fewer births in the year 2000 than does the basic model, although it predicts births to increase significantly relative to the levels of the early 1960s. Policy decisions based on the unchallenged assumption of a continuance of low fertility may be ill-advised.     

Ethnicity and class identity: The case of French‐ and English‐speaking Canadians*

This study addresses the racial and religious contexts of identity formation among Lebanese immigrants to the United States of America and Somali immigrants to Canada. Each enters with a different racial status: Lebanese as white; Somalis as black/visible minority. Ethnographic interviews explore the strategies of adaptation and identity development within these groups. Specifically, we compare and contrast the Lebanese and Somali experience through an analysis of ethnic relations in the country of origin, the conditions of immigration, and through accounts of their encounters and identity negotiation with the host society. We demonstrate the strategies each group implements to negotiate both race and religion in identity development. Our findings reveal that each group attempts to make their religious identity evident, however, Somali immigrants must negotiate the effects of ‘othering’ processes with both race and religion, while Lebanese immigrants build a religious identity from privileges afforded to them by virtue of their white racial status.     

Contribution of Immigration to Adolescent Fertility in Spain Considering the Reproductive Pattern in the Country of Origin

Adolescent fertility displays a trend that does not follow—and even runs contrary to—the general temporal fertility pattern. Multiple factors determine this trend, including socioeconomic conditions and cultural patterns at both immigrants’ place of origin of and their destination. This article analyzes adolescent fertility in Spain with regard to country of maternal origin using records of deliveries (1980–2008) and information from countries with high immigration rates to Spain. After 1980, deliveries to adolescents diminished; after 1996, only Spanish-born adolescents continued this downward trend, but not immigrants. The factors responsible for these differences are diverse and related to the characteristics of the immigrants themselves, in addition to the situation of immigrants in the Spanish context.     

Driving integration: how is it done

ABSTRACT

The present dilemma of immigrant integration in the West is, that for previous generations of immigrants in Europe and the United States, education and politics were strong engines that drove integration. However, these engines have not worked so well for this current wave of immigration, despite emerging progress. In this review, I examine the chapters on education and politics. Two questions emerge: first, with regard to education, how much can the ineffectiveness of the education system be attributed to the cultural challenges of immigration, compared to the challenges of class, with implications for immigrants and natives as well? and second, with regard to politics, is the problem not just the numbers of minority representatives, but how they are organized, and for what purpose – indeed, if they have a purpose?     

Social integration and identity of immigrants from western countries,the FSU and Ethiopia in Israel

This study of immigrants’ integration in Israel centers on one major subjective parameter, namely the immigrant's identity. To explain it we explore a series of possible factors: demographic variables, economic status, and human and social capital characteristics. Three recent immigrant groups are examined: from Western countries, from the former Soviet Union (FSU), and from Ethiopia. These immigrants came to Israel during the last two decades from different societies, following different immigration circumstances and various motives.

The findings, based on the 2007 Ruppin survey data, point to the significant impact of the identity as perceived by veteran Israelis on the immigrants’ self-identity for the three groups under study. Also, different variables affect each of the immigrant groups. FSU immigrants behaved according to most of our hypotheses, whereas Western and Ethiopian immigrants did not. Findings are discussed in light of the debate on measuring and defining immigrants’ identity.     

Defining difference: the role of immigrant generation and race in American and British immigration studies

Abstract

This article reviews the ways in which Britain and the USA classify and analyse the integration of immigrants and their descendants. While both societies recognize racial differences in their official statistics and in the academic analyses of change over time, the USA tends to classify immigrants and their descendants by immigrant generation much more than Britain does. The importance of the concept of generation in American immigration research is highlighted and it is suggested that studies built on the importance of generation can illuminate social processes of integration in Britain. The complexities of defining and measuring immigrant generation are reviewed, including new developments in the measurement of generation that take into account age at migration, and historical period and cohort effects. Racial and ethnic minority groups formed through immigration may have very different characteristics depending on the average distance of their members from immigration – including the possibility of ‘ethnic leakage’, as more assimilated, later-generation individuals no longer identify with the group.     

Density-dependent immigration promotes population stability in a long-distance migratory bird

The spatial structure of populations determines the relative importance of reproduction, survival and movement on population dynamics. However, the mechanisms by which local individuals and immigrants interact and the subsequent effects of immigrants on productivity are poorly known. We developed an integrated population model (IPM) to study the extent and consequences of immigration on the dynamics of a neotropical migrant (American redstart, Setophaga ruticilla) over an 11-year period in Ontario, Canada. New immigrants represented the majority of the study population each year with higher immigration rates for males than females and for first-year breeders than breeders in their second year or older. Immigration was negatively density dependent, with immigrants replacing previously established breeders in a compensatory manner following their death or emigration. Because of the tradeoff between immigration and apparent survival, neither had a strong influence on population growth and reproductive output was most strongly correlated with a change in abundance between years. However, if immigration ceased, the study population would become locally extinct within 7 years and thus immigrants were essential for local population persistence. We found no evidence for reduced breeding success when immigrants represented a higher proportion of the study population. Our research highlights the importance of movement in the stability of open populations and the strong correlation between the fates of local breeders and the number of immigrants entering the population. We recommend the use of IPMs to address the spatial scale over which immigration occurs and how different scales influence its contribution to population dynamics.     

Relative Deprivation and Relative Wealth Enhances Anti-Immigrant Sentiments: The V-Curve Re-Examined

Previous research has shown that negative attitudes towards immigrants and support for anti-immigrant parties are observed both among those experiencing relative deprivation and those experiencing relative gratification (so called v-curve). Whereas the effect of relative deprivation is intuitive, the effect of relative gratification is more difficult to explain. Why would economic prosperity provoke negative attitudes towards immigrants? We first present correlational (Study 1) and experimental (Study 2) support for the v-curve. In Study 1, in a national Swiss referendum, a higher percentage anti-immigrant voting was found in cantons with relatively lower and relatively higher relative disposable income. In Study 2, in a hypothetical society, more opposition to ‘newcomers’ joining society was found among poor or above average wealth group members than among those in a moderate wealth group condition. In Study 3, we replicate this finding and also show that opposition to immigration is higher for all wealth groups when societal inequality is growing rather than declining. In a final study, we examine different forms of relative gratification and mediators of the relationship between relative gratification and opposition to immigration (i.e., identification, collective self-definition as competent and cold, and fear about future wealth). Only fear about future wealth mediates this relationship. We conclude that, paradoxically, relative gratification effects are partly due to the fear of future deprivation.     

Human migratory flows

The presence of immigrants in the European states in the last twenty years has considerably increased. This increase is evidently due to the numerous waves of immigrants coming from East European countries. With regard to the present situation, 70% of the population increase of the European Union countries, in the course of the year 2000, was due to immigration. The destinations of about two-thirds of this migratory flow are Germany, Great Britain and Italy. These migratory movements originate in the more or less prevalent influence of demographic, economic and political forces. Historically Italy represented more a source of emigration than a destination for immigration; immigration came to exceed emigration for the first time in recent history only in 1973. It is interesting to note that a large proportion of the foreigners have been in Italy for a certain length of time. The immigration phenomenon, is however characterized by a considerable increase in the illegal flows. The impact with the new realities becomes extremely traumatic for the immigrants and in the end there is a significant possibility of psychological destabilization.     

Recent trends in cesarean section rates in Ontario

To assess the economic impact of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) antibody screening among potential immigrants on Canada''s health care system we estimated the costs and benefits of such screening among the 160 135 immigrants who entered Canada in 1988 using the in-hospital costs of treating AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) over the 10 years after immigration. This economic model was based on current international HIV seroprevalence data, Canadian immigration statistics and estimates of disease progression. Between 343 and 862 of the immigrants were estimated to have been HIV seropositive; with the use of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and the Western blot technique 310 to 780 of them would have been correctly identified as being seropositive, and 33 to 82 would have been incorrectly classified as being seronegative. Another 16 would have been falsely classified as being seropositive. There would have been 151 to 379 cases of AIDS from 1988 to 1998 among the immigrants identified as being HIV-positive. The estimated total cost of screening would have been $3.3 to $3.4 million. The in-hospital costs of treating HIV-infected immigrants in whom AIDS developed between 1989 and 1998 would have been $5.0 to $17.1 million. Accordingly, screening would have saved $1.7 to $13.7 million over the 10 years after immigration. However, we do not advocate screening on the basis of economic analysis alone and acknowledge that any policy regarding such screening must also incorporate social, legal and ethical considerations.     

Ethnicity,reception and the growth of American immigration

Deportation has always been a feature of the American political, social and economic discourse. A twin effect of immigration, deportation concerns who is granted the right to stay and who is removed from the country. Amid the growing debate on reform, this essay casts light on the changing nature of deportation law during the last century. Paying attention to the reception which immigrants receive and the perceptions of threat and economic competition which natives often perceive, this work evaluates how policy has shifted in response to the changing face of newcomers. As immigration law becomes intertwined with criminal law, so do the stipulations governing entry and exit. Within a politically charged social space, American immigration is a story punctuated with racialized and criminalized images of immigrants. Bridging ethnic and racial currents, this work seeks to understand how these effects continue to shape contemporary immigration policy.     

Impact of dispersal status on estimates of local population growth rates in a Temminck's stint Calidris temminckii population

Due to different costs and benefits associated with dispersal and philopatry, life history traits of immigrants and philopatric individuals may differ. Despite of the apparent effects, dispersal status is only rarely considered in analyses of population dynamics. We analysed whether dispersal status explains variation in life history traits of an endangered Temminck's stint Calidris temminckii population breeding at the Baltic Sea. We also estimated the impact of immigration and dispersal status on the population growth rate (λ) with a population matrix model, in which immigrants and philopatric individuals are separated to their own stages. We found that philopatric individuals had a higher apparent survival than immigrants in both sexes. In reproductive parameters, variation due to dispersal status was not clear. Nests incubated by philopatric individuals survived better than those of immigrants, but this did not translate in hatchling production per breeding attempt. Models described a sink population in which the inclusion of both immigration rate to the population and the dispersal status of individuals into the model increased estimates of λ. When the better success of philopatric individuals was considered, the population growth appeared more stable (λ=0.972). If this was not taken into account, λ implied a strong decline (λ=0.911). The results support the hypothesis that immigrants exhibit lower components of lifetime reproductive success and therefore contribute less to population growth and the gene pool than local recruits. While we cannot distinguish whether this difference reflects higher mortality or permanent emigration, the latter explanation seems more plausible. Our results highlight the importance of considering immigration and dispersal status in population modelling. In the case of the endangered study population, the results implied that management options directed to improve local recruitment would be a profitable option.     

Beyond innumeracy: heuristic decision-making and qualitative misperceptions about immigrants in Finland

Population innumeracy (the tendency to overestimate immigrant or minority population sizes) has sparked scholarly interest. However, erroneous size estimates are not the only consequential misperception. There are also qualitative questions that are prone to error, such as the most common origin of immigrants. Using data from the Finnish National Election Survey, the current study provides the first detailed examination of misperceptions about the primary source of immigration. I consider both their extent and correlates. Results indicate that about one-fifth are incorrect, with most faultily identifying Somalia as the primary origin. These misperceptions are related significantly to media exposure and demographic factors, suggesting that they are more than random ignorance. Source misperceptions are strongly associated with perceptions of cultural threat from immigrants, suggesting potential consequences for faulty views. Overall, findings indicate that innumeracy research should expand to include misperceptions beyond size.     

Fungal immigration dynamics and community development on apple leaves

Fungal immigration dynamics and community development were followed over time on sets of surface-disinfested apple leaves in the field. Immigration was defined as the arrival of viable propagules on the leaf surface. In three separate experiments (May, June, July), total numbers of fungal immigrants, numbers of filamentous fungal immigrants, and numbers of yeast immigrants per leaf were estimated for successive 12-hour immigration periods. Communities developing over 2–14 immigration periods (1–7 days) were compared with the corresponding estimates of cumulative immigration. There were significant differences among both experiments and immigration periods within each experiment in mean numbers of immigrants per leaf. Leaf area was often significantly correlated with numbers of immigrants. Developing communities supported progressively fewer individuals than the corresponding sums of immigrants, suggesting that losses due to emigration and/or death play a critical role in shaping these communities.     

Minimizing the dependency ratio in a population with below-replacement fertility through immigration

Many industrialized countries face fertility rates below replacement level, combined with declining mortality especially in older ages. Consequently, the populations of these countries have started to age. One important indicator of age structures is the dependency ratio which is the ratio of the nonworking age population to the working age population. In this work we find the age-specific immigration profile that minimizes the dependency ratio in a stationary population with below-replacement fertility. It is assumed that the number of immigrants per age is limited. We consider two alternative policies. In the first one, we fix the total number of people who annually immigrate to a country. In the second one, we prescribe the size of the receiving country’s population. For both cases we provide numerical results for the optimal immigration profile, for the resulting age structure of the population, as well as for the dependency ratio.     

Anthropology, Demography, and the Search for a Critical Analysis of Fertility: Insights from Russia

The socialist and postsocialist contexts offer important challenges for anthropologists developing a critical analysis of fertility. The need for fertility studies to address class and gender inequities is often overlooked by postsocialist scholars, whose work is mired in responses to the socialist past and ongoing pronatalist campaigns. I examine the ways that fertility analysis has been used in national political struggles in Russia, and explain why supporters of democratic reforms and women's rights have neglected to address gender and class issues in their fertility studies. While Russian nationalists cite fertility decline as proof that market reforms threaten Russia's existence, defenders of neoliberalism draw on demographic transition theory to redefine fertility decline as a universal sign of socioeconomic development. Working with conventional demographic paradigms and a postsocialist cultural logic, Russian transition theorists simultaneously oppose pronatalist politics, support women's reproductive choice, and reproduce the limitations of liberal paradigms regarding the family, society, and public policy. This article shows how anthropological critiques of demographic transition theory can be expanded and nuanced by considering the ways this theory gets adapted to particular cultural logics and political contests. [Keywords: anthropology and demography, postsocialism, Russia, fertility decline]     

Ethnicity and fertility in Liberia: a test of the minority group status hypothesis

This study examines the relationship between ethnicity and fertility in Liberia, within the context of the minority group status hypothesis. The hypothesis argues that minority group status exerts an independent effect on fertility, net of controls for socioeconomic and demographic variables. Using a subsample of women from the 1974 Liberian census, the study examines interethnic variations in fertility by comparing five ethnic minorities--Bassa, Vai, Grebo, Kru, Kpelle--with the majority group, Americo-Liberian. With the possible exception of Bassa women, the findings do not support the minority group status hypothesis. Instead, the findings are more congruent with the alternative assimilationist hypothesis which argues that when sociodemographic differences between majority and minority groups are controlled, their fertility levels should converge. The implications of these findings are explored.     

“But You Would Be the Best Mother”: Unwomen,Counterstories, and the Motherhood Mandate

This paper addresses and challenges the pronatalist marginalization and oppression of voluntarily childless women in the Global North. These conditions call for philosophical analyses and for sociopolitical responses that would make possible the necessary moral spaces for resistance. Focusing on the relatively privileged subgroups of women who are the targets of pronatalist campaigns, the paper explores the reasons behind their choices, the nature and methods of Western pronatalism, and distinguishes three specific sources of some of the more lasting, and stigmatizing attacks: popular culture, law and policy, and medicine itself. I then argue that because they are construed by motherhood-essentializing, and increasingly popular, pronatalist narratives as, among other things, “failed” or “selfish,” voluntarily childless women are subsequently burdened with damaged identities that can leave them personally othered and uniquely liminal in ways that are destructive to moral agency. Finally, I conclude with a challenge to the pronatalist master narratives by suggesting the possibility of counter narratives to the voluntarily childless woman's liminality that might serve as the ground of moral and political solidarity among differently situated women, regardless of their motherhood status.