The effect of culture on the fertility decisions of immigrant women in the United States

This paper examines whether culture plays a role in the number of children born. We use data on immigrant women who arrived in the United States when younger than age six. Since all these women grew up under the same laws, institutions, and economic conditions, then the differences between them by country of origin may be due to cultural differences. We identify the cultural effect, exploiting variations in the mean number of children born by country of origin, age, education level, and employment status. Results show that the home-country mean number of children born has a positive relationship to the number of children born of immigrants living in the US, suggesting that culture is important. Additionally, we extend this work to an analysis of both the decision to have children and the number of children born, finding again that culture appears to play a significant role.