Impacts of Immigration and Labor Choice on Reproductive Decision-Making
(University of Nevada, Reno)
(California Baptist University)
Culture changes—and it has begun to change more quickly in a world that is growing smaller due to increased travel and immigration. Family structures are changing; women that were not traditionally expected to work are finding it an economic necessity. These same women may also be finding themselves at the head of a household when their male partner must leave his homeland to find work elsewhere. Women may limit their fertility due to lack of economic resources or even lack of a partner; on the other hand, family size may actually increase in urban areas where both parents are working due to lack of access to services or the dearth of affordable services. Further, dual families are increasingly becoming the result of immigration, lack of resources, and scant availability of services. Reproductive decisions such as this, while not acceptable in the home cultures of many immigrants, have become necessary. We argue that immigration, combined with choice of available labor, is changing the decision-making process many women go through when planning reproduction.