Ethnic differences in Australian fertility.

Abstract

Historically, immigration has played an important role in the demographic evolution of the modern Australian society. In order to measure the demographic impact of immigration, it is necessary to study the fertility behaviour of various immigrant groups in Australia. In this paper, ethnic differences in Australian fertility have been analysed, using country of birth as a surrogate variable for ethnicity. Main sources of data used are the population censuses and the birth registers. Most of the data presented refer to 1981, as analysis of data pertaining to 1971 and 1976 was reported in earlier papers. The study has shown that fertility of most of the European immigrants (except the Dutch and the Maltese), has been converging towards the Australian norm. The non-European immigrants have lower fertility, with the exception of the newly arrived refugee groups from Asia and the Middle East.