Analysis of Ethnic Fertility Differentials Through the Consideration of Assimilation

Approaches to ethnic fertility differentials include the following assertions: they are not due to ethnicity as such but to other factors that happen to be associated with ethnicity; they are due specifically to occupancy of minority SS by certain ethnic groups; & ethnic groups have differing norms & practices regarding fertility. The validity of these three approaches is examined on the basis of survey data from P. Krishnan & K. J. Krotki (Growth of Alberta Families Survey [GAFS]: A Report to Health and Welfare Canada on Questionnaires Collected from 1,045 Women in Edmonton in the Winter of 1973-1974, Edmonton: Population Research Laboratory, Dept of Sociology, U of Alberta, 1976) on 1,045 Fs aged 18-54 residing in Edmonton, Alberta. It has previously been found that ethnicity per se must have some independent effect on fertility; an attempt is made to test the particularized ideology hypothesis through comparison of more & less assimilated members of ethnic groups. This hypothesis is not supported when generation is used as a measure of assimilation, but is well supported when either language use or intermarriage is used as a measure of assimilation. The variation in fertility between ethnic groups is small, but ethnicity appears to play a significant role in producing it. 4 Tables. W. H. Stoddard.