Abstract

PIP: Based on a 25% sample of legally married, spouse-present women derived from the 1960 Census of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the study analyses the correlation between migration and fertility. Age and education served as control variables and were examined to determine whether selective migration existed. Nonmigrant residents of the San Juan Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA) were compared with San Juan SMSA residents who had migrated from a nonmetropolitan area since 1955. Sample women were divided into 4 age groups--14-24, 25-34, 35-44 and 45 and over. Among those aged 14-24, migrant women displayed lower fertility at all levels of education than their nonmigrating counterparts. In the 25-34 age group, migrant wives again showed lower fertility at all educational levels except elementary. In the 35-44 group, migrants demonstrated higher fertility before the education variable was controlled. Median education was 6.4 for migrants and 6.2 for nonmigrants in both the elementary and college educational categories. Migrants in the 45 and over age group had higher fertility and 50% had completed no more than 3.8 years of school compared with 4.4 years among nonmigrants. Data concludes that migration from nonmetropolitan areas appears to be related to lower fertility when migration occurrs at an early age allowing the reproductive span to be spent mainly in an urban environment. 2 types of migration streams may exist: 1) younger, better educated migrants adopting smaller family size norms; 2) older, poorly educated migrants with large families reflecting traditional values.