IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp13748.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

U.S. Immigration Policy and Immigrant Fertility

Author

Listed:
  • Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina

    (University of California, Merced)

  • Arenas-Arroyo, Esther

    (Vienna University of Economics and Business)

Abstract

Using the 2005-2014 waves of the American Community Survey –a period characterized by the rapid expansion of interior immigration enforcement initiatives across the United States, we evaluate the impact of a tougher policy environment on undocumented immigrants' fertility. We find that a one standard deviation increases in enforcement lowers childbearing among likely undocumented women by 5 percent. The effect emanates from police-based measures linked to increased deportations, which may raise uncertainty about the future of the family unit and its resources. Understanding these impacts is important given the critical contributions of immigrants and their offspring to diversity, the economy and the sustainability of the welfare state.

Suggested Citation

  • Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Arenas-Arroyo, Esther, 2020. "U.S. Immigration Policy and Immigrant Fertility," IZA Discussion Papers 13748, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13748
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp13748.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Cynthia Bansak, 2014. "Employment Verification Mandates And The Labor Market Outcomes Of Likely Unauthorized And Native Workers," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 32(3), pages 671-680, July.
    2. Patricia Cortés & José Tessada, 2011. "Low-Skilled Immigration and the Labor Supply of Highly Skilled Women," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 88-123, July.
    3. Becker, Gary S & Tomes, Nigel, 1976. "Child Endowments and the Quantity and Quality of Children," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(4), pages 143-162, August.
    4. Bohn, Sarah & Lofstrom, Magnus & Raphael, Steven, 2015. "Do E-Verify Mandates Improve Labor Market Outcomes of Low-Skilled Native and Legal Immigrant Workers?," IZA Discussion Papers 9420, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Fernando A. Lozano, 2019. "Interstate Mobility Patterns of Likely Unauthorized Immigrants: Evidence from Arizona," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 109-120, June.
    6. Emilio Parrado & S. Morgan, 2008. "Intergenerational fertility among hispanic women: New evidence of immigrant assimilation," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 45(3), pages 651-671, August.
    7. Sarah Bohn & Magnus Lofstrom & Steven Raphael, 2014. "Did the 2007 Legal Arizona Workers Act Reduce the State's Unauthorized Immigrant Population?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(2), pages 258-269, May.
    8. Cynthia Bansak, 2005. "The Differential Wage Impact of the Immigration Reform and Control Act on Latino Ethnic Subgroups," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 86(s1), pages 1279-1298, December.
    9. Card, David, 2001. "Immigrant Inflows, Native Outflows, and the Local Labor Market Impacts of Higher Immigration," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(1), pages 22-64, January.
    10. repec:wly:soecon:v:81:4:y:2015:p:960-979 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Pope, Nolan G., 2016. "The Effects of DACAmentation: The Impact of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals on Unauthorized Immigrants," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 98-114.
    12. Kevin Milligan, 2005. "Subsidizing the Stork: New Evidence on Tax Incentives and Fertility," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(3), pages 539-555, August.
    13. Tara Watson, 2013. "Enforcement and immigrant location choice," Working Papers 13-10, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    14. Pia M. Orrenius & Madeline Zavodny, 2009. "The effects of tougher enforcement on the job prospects of recent Latin American immigrants," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(2), pages 239-257.
    15. Rafael Lalive & Josef Zweimüller, 2009. "How Does Parental Leave Affect Fertility and Return to Work? Evidence from Two Natural Experiments," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(3), pages 1363-1402.
    16. Daniel T. Griswold, 2012. "Immigration and the Welfare State," Cato Journal, Cato Journal, Cato Institute, vol. 32(1), pages 159-174, Winter.
    17. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Mary J. Lopez, 2015. "Falling through the Cracks? Grade Retention and School Dropout among Children of Likely Unauthorized Immigrants," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(5), pages 598-603, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Arenas-Arroyo, Esther, 2021. "Immigration policy and fertility: Evidence from undocumented migrants in the U.S," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 274-297.
    2. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Arenas-Arroyo, Esther & Wang, Chunbei, 2020. "Is immigration enforcement shaping immigrant marriage patterns?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    3. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Arenas-Arroy, Esther, 2017. "Immigrant Fertility in the Midst of Intensified Enforcement," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Arenas-Arroyo, Esther & Sevilla, Almudena, 2018. "Immigration enforcement and economic resources of children with likely unauthorized parents," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 63-78.
    5. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Arenas-Arroyo, Esther & Sevilla, Almudena, 2020. "Labor market impacts of states issuing of driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    6. Catalina Amuedo‐Dorantes & Mary J. Lopez, 2017. "The Hidden Educational Costs of Intensified Immigration Enforcement," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 84(1), pages 120-154, July.
    7. East, Chloe N. & Velasquez, Andrea, 2018. "The Effect of Increasing Immigration Enforcement on the Labor Supply of High-Skilled Citizen Women," IZA Discussion Papers 12029, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Arenas-Arroyo, Esther & Sevilla, Almudena, 2018. "Labor Market Impacts of States Issuing of Driving Licenses to Undocumented Immigrants," IZA Discussion Papers 12049, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Mary J. Lopez, 2018. "Impeding or Accelerating Assimilation? Immigration Enforcement and Its Impact on Naturalization Patterns," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1814, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    10. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Mary J. Lopez, 2017. "Interior Immigration Enforcement and Political Participation of U.S. Citizens in Mixed-Status Households," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(6), pages 2223-2247, December.
    11. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Esther Arenas-Arroyo, 2017. "The Changing Family Structure of American Children with Unauthorized Parents," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1711, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    12. Tara Watson, 2013. "Enforcement and immigrant location choice," Working Papers 13-10, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    13. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Fernando A. Lozano, 2019. "Interstate Mobility Patterns of Likely Unauthorized Immigrants: Evidence from Arizona," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 109-120, June.
    14. Mark Hoekstra & Sandra Orozco-Aleman, 2017. "Illegal Immigration, State Law, and Deterrence," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 228-252, May.
    15. Sarah Greer & Pia M. Orrenius & Madeline Zavodny, 2020. "Who Signs up for E-Verify? Insights from DHS Enrollment Records," Working Papers 2002, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    16. Shalise Ayromloo & Benjamin Feigenberg & Darren Lubotsky, 2020. "States Taking the Reins? Employment Verification Requirements and Local Labor Market Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 26676, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Chunbei Wang & Magnus Lofstrom, 2020. "September 11 and the Rise of Necessity Self-Employment Among Mexican Immigrants," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 5-33, January.
    18. Brandyn F. Churchill & Andrew Dickinson & Taylor Mackay & Joseph J. Sabia, 2022. "The Effect of E-Verify Laws on Crime," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(5), pages 1294-1320, October.
    19. de la Rica, Sara & Glitz, Albrecht & Ortega, Francesc, 2013. "Immigration in Europe: Trends, Policies and Empirical Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 7778, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Pia M. Orrenius & Madeline Zavodny, 2022. "Does immigration enforcement affect where less‐educated US natives and Hispanic immigrants live?," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 1432-1451, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    fertility; immigration policy; interior immigration enforcement; undocumented immigrants; unauthorized immigrants; United States;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • K37 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Immigration Law

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13748. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.