This paper provides insights into the relationship between migration and fertility in urban China. Data collected in five major Chinese cities during the China Urban Labor Survey of 2001 is used to compare the fertility patterns of rural-to-urban migrants with permanent urban residents. The analysis takes a life course perspective, taking into account the timing of major life events when estimating the impact of migration on fertility. These results suggest that migrants generally have higher fertility than native urban residents, but that the fertility patterns of migrants vary significantly by the relative timing of marriage and migration, and by educational attainment.
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