Research Leen Marynissen

Abstract

The share of young adults who have parents with a migration background (2nd generation) or who migrated as children (intermediate or 1.5 generation) is increasing in societies across Europe. Patterns of family formation in the 1.5 and 2nd generation are increasingly attracting attention of academia and policymakers because of the potential impact they may have on future demographic trends in Europe. This impact will differ, however, depending on whether the 1.5 and 2nd generation retain distinctive patterns of family formation with respect to timing of parenthood and number of children, or whether patterns of family formation in migrant populations can be expected to converge to those in majority populations. Research on family formation in general populations has shown that lengthening educational trajectories and variation in labour market opportunities induced by economic cycles have strongly affected the number of children and particularly the timing of parenthood. In contrast, the literature on migrant fertility to date has largely focused on development of appropriate indicators and changes over subsequent generations, whereas the association between economic cycles and fertility in migrant populations has not been addressed, let alone variation of this association across origin groups and migrant generations. Considering the differential labour market opportunities available to migrants and natives, theories of migrant fertility give rise to conflicting hypotheses on whether patterns of family formation in the 1.5 and 2nd generation can be expected to converge to natives, which have remained largely untested. Given these gaps in the literature, this project uses unique longitudinal microdata from Belgian social security registers to i) study variation in the association between economic cycles and family formation in the 1.5 and 2nd generation in Belgium around the Great Depression (2005-2017) across origin groups and migrant generations, and ii) determine the extent to which differential labour market opportunities and employment instability at the individual, couple and household level mediate this association. The project considers four levels of analysis. First, the project considers how the association between aggregate economic indicators and family formation varies across origin groups and migrant generations. Second, the project analyses how differential employment stability at the individual-level mediates the association between economic cycles and family formation across origin groups and migrant generations. Third, the project considers couple dynamics to determines whether partners accumulate labour market precariousness, or whether compensation takes place between partners. Fourth and finally, given the higher prevalence of multigenerational and extended households in specific migrant populations, the project analyses whether households buffer or exacerbate the effect of individual employment instability on the number of children and timing of parenthood through processes of accumulation or compensation.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Neels Karel
• Co-promoter: Marynissen Leen

Research team(s)

• Centre for Population, Family and Health

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Considerable differences exist between the labour market outcomes of individuals with and individuals without a migration background. Hence, the labour market integration of the large and increasing shares of second generation migrants stands high on both academic and policy agendas throughout Europe. However, a major limitation characterises the literature (and policies) on the labour market integration of individuals with a migration background: the dominant individual perspective which ignores gender dynamics within couples and the local and social context of labour market integration. This is remarkable given that research on gender dynamics in general populations has repeatedly documented how partners' relative resources impact the gender division of employment within couples, and the widespread idea that second generation migrants often live "in between two worlds". And so, both contextual features (e.g., local employment contexts, local (in)formal childcare availability) and social networks (e.g., family, neighbours) are likely to impact men and women with different migration backgrounds differently and may therefore yield gender dynamics in couples' labour market trajectories. This project responds to these research gaps by adopting a life course perspective and developing a multistate modelling framework to examine how local and social contexts shape gender dynamics in second generation migrant couples' labour market integration.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Neels Karel
• Fellow: Marynissen Leen

Research team(s)

• Centre for Population, Family and Health

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The aim of this BOF Small Research Project is to apply for and obtain access to longitudinal, micro-level register data for the Netherlands containing information on five 'layers of relations', linking family members, members of the same household, neighbours, colleagues and classmates. This data application is a well-considered step in the development of my independent line of research as a young postdoctoral researcher and situated in the context of my current funding by BOF ('opvangmandaat') and the resubmission of my project proposal for an FWO junior Postdoctoral fellowship. My FWO project proposal concerns the study of whether and to which extent household-level gender (in)equalities and individuals' network opportunity structures shape gender dynamics in the labour market trajectories of second generation migrant women. A study using these unique Dutch register data would be among the first to exploit some of the enormous potential of these data and would allow to take research on migrants' labour market integration a large step further by exploring which different network layers are of relevance in gender dynamics in migrants' labour market trajectories.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Marynissen Leen

Research team(s)

• Centre for Population, Family and Health

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The labour market integration of first and second generation migrants stands high on both academic and policy agendas throughout Europe. Nevertheless, considerable differences exist between the labour market outcomes of migrants and natives, which are substantially larger among women than among men. However, current explanations of migrants' labour market trajectories are lacking attention for gender dynamics which might explain differential patterns of migrants' labour market integration. We still have a poor understanding of how migrants' labour market trajectories are shaped by gender dynamics in households (e.g. partners' relative employment, the typical decrease in female employment after childbearing) and gendered local contexts (e.g. local childcare availability, gendered social networks). This is highly remarkable since research on general populations widely agrees on the crucial importance of these factors. Hence, this project integrates a gender and life course perspective to examine how household-level gender dynamics and gendered local contexts shape first and second generation migrants' labour market integration. Methodologically, this project builds on recent developments in life course research by developing a multistate multi-process modelling framework. As such, our findings will substantially further our understanding of gender dynamics in migrants' labour market integration.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Neels Karel
• Fellow: Marynissen Leen

Research team(s)

• Centre for Population, Family and Health

Project type(s)

• Research Project