Between labor mobility and family: a long-standing trade-off for immigrants on arrival in Spain
Supporting Agencies
- Este trabajo es parte del proyecto de I+D+i “Análisis de la muy baja fecundidad a través de las transiciones vitales: emancipación, formación de pareja y trayectoria laboral” (Referencia: PID2021-123875NB-I00) financiado por Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCIN/ AEI /10.13039/501100011033/) y por FEDER Una manera de hacer Europa Proy.
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to analyze the interferences between family formation and labor participation among immigrant men and women in Spain. This population faces two opposing situations in the country of destination: on the one hand, the desire to have the children they postponed due to the migration process, and on the other hand, the need to work, given that their main reason for migrating was economic. For this purpose, data from the 2007 National Immigration Survey are used and multivariate models are applied, with the dependent variables being the birth of the first child after the migration process and labor mobility after their first job in Spain. The results reveal that men prioritize their labor trajectory over family life, while women adopt the opposite approach. For men, the only significant results are that having a child reduces the probability of stopping working and that unemployment reduces the probability of having children. For women, the family trajectory clearly has an impact on employment and, unlike men, never having worked increases the probability of having children. Finally, it is worth noting the limited importance of labor mobility within the labor market for the fertility of the migrant population.
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