This article compares both the fertility behavior and expectations for future childbearing of foreign and native-born women in the US using data from the 1980 US Census and the 1986 and 1988 June Current Population Surveys. The goals are to first analyze the sources of the growing fertility gap between immigrant and native women and then to explore the extent to which immigrants adapt (or intend to adapt) their fertility once in the US. The results show that the immigrant-native fertility gap has increased during the 1980s because fertility dropped at a faster rate for natives than for immigrants. The relatively high fertility of immigrants compared to natives can be completely explained by compositional differences with respect to age, education, income and ethnicity. -from Author

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Comparative Studies Americas population Migrants demography fertility behaviour Demographic Surveys Population Dynamics Research Report Ethnic Groups ethnic group Developed Countries fertility USA cultural comparison child-bearing expectation United States North America immigrants Western Hemisphere Article Differential Fertility migration developed country population and population related phenomena Demographic Factors Emigration and Immigration ethnicity Transients and Migrants Northern America Native-born Population Characteristics Nationality immigrant population