Advanced or postponed motherhood? Migrants’ and natives’ gap between ideal and actual age at first birth in Spain

Abstract

BACKGROUND The analysis of migrants’ preferences on the timing of fertility offers insights on how the migration experience and the contextual characteristics at destination might shape migrant women’s expectations and behaviors. OBJECTIVE This paper explores the ideal age at first birth among Spanish and foreign-born women in Spain and its gap in relation to the actual age at first birth among those who are mothers. METHOD We use the 2018 Spanish Fertility Survey to study respondents’ ideal age at first birth and the gap between ideal and actual age – whether a postponement or an advancement. We analyze the variation of the gap by age at arrival into Spain and the motherhood status at migration, together with contextual and sociodemographic characteristics.