Migration and Fertility: Behavioral Change on the American Frontier

Abstract

This study focuses on the relationship between fertility and migration in families settling the Utah Territory. Genealogical data are used to identify the timing of migration (i.e., after, during, or before childbearing) and country of originfor migrants; and to analyze both fer tility levels for different types of migrants and the changes in fertility behavior associated with these levels. The highest fertility levels are among adults who migrated during their reproductive ages. Those who migrated young, before childbearing began, have lower fertility and are similar to natives of the frontier. Adult immigrants and emigrants of the Utah Territory use multiple strategies offamily formation.

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