Gender preference and age at arrival among Asian immigrant mothers in the US

We examine gender preference assimilation by comparing fertility patterns of Asian immigrants according to their age at arrival. Past work has shown that U.S. natives appear to value mixed sex composition whereas families in many Asian countries exhibit a strong son preference. We find that Asian immigrants who arrive to the US late in life show evidence of son preference since they are much more likely to have additional children if their first two children are girls. Asian immigrants who arrive early in life, however, exhibit a fertility pattern quite close to that of U.S. natives. Our results are suggestive of complete assimilation of gender preferences for immigrants who arrive as children, and very little gender preference assimilation for immigrants who arrive at later ages.