Patterns of Fertility Difference between Anglos & Generations of Mexican Americans: Evidence for Incorporation?

Christopher Smith, University of California, Irvine
Susan K. Brown, University of California, Irvine

This study assesses alternative immigrant group incorporation hypotheses by examining Mexican-origin fertility across multiple generations. The research uses data from the Immigration and Intergenerational Mobility in Metropolitan Los Angeles (IIMMLA) survey, which allows the isolation of a true third generation (as opposed to third or higher generations). Using Poisson regression, we find that third-generation fertility levels of Mexican-origin women have largely converged with those of third-generation non-Hispanic whites, but those of men have not. But in the cases of both male and female fertility, substantially lower childbearing among the third generation compared to the second and first generations indicates support for a delayed incorporation hypothesis.