Fertility differentials among migrants and non-migrants in the Philippines

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to ascertain the extent to which the fertility of migrant women in the Philippines is different from that of non-migrants. The 1983 National Demographic Survey (NDS) was the source of data for attaining the objectives of this study and ascertaining: (1) the profile of migrants at the time of first move; (2) the characteristics of migrants and non-migrants at the time of survey; (3) differences in cumulative and current fertility behaviour according to migration status; (4) differences in average pregnancy intervals of migrants before and after their latest move with those of non-migrants; and (5) whether differences in the fertility pattern among the sampled currently married women was due to the moves they have made or some other explanatory variables. The primary investigation included the use of crosstabulations, standardizations, and multivariate analysis (specifically, multiple classification analysis). Relatively minor support was accorded to the conceptual framework put forward by the study which was based on traditional concepts rationalizing the interrelationship between fertility and migration. The general pattern that emerged from the tables on cumulative fertility of migrants and non-migrants points to very little variation in the mean number of children ever born in younger ages but some distinct differences in older ages, even after controlling for education, labour force participation and contraceptive use status. The findings on current fertility, as demonstrated by the age-specific marital fertility rates, point to lower fertility among migrants whose place of destination was urban and higher fertility among those whose place of destination was rural. But again, the differences are not pronounced. When contrasting the pregnancy intervals of migrants after their latest move with the average pregnancy intervals of non-migrants, the findings illustrate the propensity of the latter to have longer pregnancy intervals. The resulting figures, however, reveal only slight differences between the two. This, more or less, concurs with the findings from the analysis of cumulative and current fertility. Finally, results of the multiple classification analysis indicate that migration had a negligible contribution to explaining the variations in cumulative fertility compared to the other socio-economic and demographic variables included in the model. One possible conclusion is that migration does not in itself raise fertility rates by bringing high fertility women in urban areas. However, because migration is age selective and contributes to inflating the age groups in the peak reproductive years, it has the potential to raise the number of births in cities and contribute to the natural increase in urban growth. Hence, it may be worthwhile considering the strategy of using the country's population redistribution policy as a mechanism for fertility reduction.