The fertility integration of Mexican-Americans across generations: confronting the problem of the ‘third’ generation^*

* A previous version of this paper was presented at the 2012 European Population Association conference in Stockholm, Sweden.

Figures & data

Table 1. Mexican-origin generation status definitions.

Generation status	Definitions
Panel A: IIMMLA
1st generation	Born in Mexico and arrived in the U.S. at age 14 or older
1.5 generation	Born in Mexico and arrived in the U.S. at age 13 or younger
2nd generation	Born in the U.S. with 1 or 2 Mexican-born Parents
3rd generation	Born in the U.S. with 2 U.S.-born parents; at least 1 Mexican-born grandparent
4th-plus generation	Born in the U.S. with 2 U.S.-born parents; all 4 grandparents U.S.-born; self-identifies as Mexican
3rd-plus generation	Group composed of aggregated 3rd and ‘4th-plus’ generation
Panel B: CPS
Generation Status	Definitions
1st generation	Born in Mexico and arrived in the U.S. at age 14 or older
1.5 generation	Born in Mexico and arrived in the U.S. at age 13 or younger
2nd generation	Born in the U.S. with 1 or 2 Mexican-born parents
3rd-plus generation	Born in the U.S. with U.S.-born parents; self-identifies as Mexican origin

Source: IIMMLA, 2004, and CPS-LA, June Fertility Supplement, 1998–2010.

Table 2. Means and proportions for key variables for Mexican-origin, non-Hispanic white and black women in greater Los Angeles, ages 20–40.

Variables	1st gen.	1.5 gen.	2nd gen.	3rd+ gen.	3rd gen.	4th+ gen.	Black	NH White
Number of children	2.2	1.7	1.4	1.4	1.2	1.5	1.5	1.0
Age	31.0	29.1	27.6	29.2	30.2	28.3	30.8	30.7
Education
Less than HS	0.74	0.28	0.11	0.12	0.10	0.13	0.12	0.04
HS/VoTech	0.15	0.32	0.31	0.29	0.24	0.34	0.21	0.15
Some college	0.03	0.27	0.43	0.41	0.46	0.37	0.47	0.36
Bachelor's degree plus	0.09	0.13	0.15	0.18	0.20	0.17	0.21	0.45
Enrolled in school	0.02	0.13	0.17	0.15	0.15	0.15	0.11	0.18
Marital status
Married	0.60	0.45	0.40	0.43	0.44	0.44	0.25	0.45
Divorced	0.09	0.1	0.14	0.12	0.10	0.13	0.15	0.12
Cohabiting	0.13	0.14	0.08	0.11	0.10	0.12	0.06	0.09
Single	0.18	0.3	0.38	0.34	0.36	0.32	0.54	0.36
Intermarried	0.02	0.05	0.07	0.25	0.34	0.17	0.03	0.12
Number of siblings	5.4	4.4	3.8	3.4	3.4	3.3	4.1	2.7
N	68	135	302	157	87	95	200	213

Source: IIMMLA, 2004.

Table 3. Negative binomial regressions of fertility on independent variables, women ages 20–40, in Los Angeles.

	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3	Model 4
Race/generation status
1st generation	2.16**	1.27†	1.62**	1.13
	(0.26)	(0.16)	(0.21)	(0.15)
1.5 generation	1.94**	1.4**	1.52**	1.26*
	(0.21)	(0.15)	(0.18)	(0.14)
2nd generation	1.81**	1.45**	1.53**	1.39**
	(0.18)	(0.14)	(0.16)	(0.14)
3rd-plus generation	1.55**	1.26*	1.35**	1.2†
	(0.16)	(0.13)	(0.15)	(0.12)
3rd generation	1.35*	1.13	1.22	1.09
	(0.18)	(0.15)	(0.16)	(0.14)
4th-plus generation	1.76**	1.38**	1.49**	1.31*
	(0.21)	(0.16)	(0.19)	(0.16)
Non-Hispanic White	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.
Black	1.53**	1.27*	1.56**	1.44**
	(0.16)	(0.13)	(0.19)	(0.15)
Additional controls
Age	Y	Y	Y	Y
Educational Attainment	N	Y	N	Y
Currently enrolled in school	N	Y	N	Y
Marital status	N	N	Y	Y
Siblings	N	N	Y	Y
Intermarried	N	N	Y	Y
County fixed effects	Y	Y	Y	Y
Observations	1100	1100	1100	1100
Pseudo R-squared	0.09	0.13	0.13	0.16

Source: IIMMLA, 2004.

*p < .05.

**p < .01.

†p < .10.

Table 4. Comparison of results for IIMMLA and CPS-LA samples.

		Mexican-origin generation				Black	NH White
		1st	1.5	2nd	3rd-plus
Demographic
Mean children	IIMMLA	2.2	1.7	1.4^a*	1.4	1.5	1.0
Ever born^b	CPS-LA	2.2	1.7	1.1	1.5	1.4	1.0
Mean age^c	IIMMLA	31.0	29.2	27.6	29.2	30.8	30.7
	CPS-LA	31.7	29.7	27.2	29.9	30.1	30.9
Education (proportions)
Less than HS^d	IIMMLA	0.74*	0.28	0.11†	0.12	0.12	0.04
	CPS-LA	0.65	0.33	0.15	0.15	0.10	0.05
HS/VoTech	IIMMLA	0.15	0.32	0.31	0.29	0.21*	0.15*
	CPS-LA	0.23	0.37	0.3	0.34	0.26	0.21
Some College	IIMMLA	0.03†	0.27	0.43	0.41	0.47	0.36
	CPS-LA	0.09	0.22	0.41	0.37	0.43	0.36
Bachelor’s degree	IIMMLA	0.09*	0.13	0.15	0.18	0.21	0.45*
or more	CPS-LA	0.03	0.08	0.14	0.14	0.21	0.38
Family status (proportions)
Married4	IIMMLA	0.60	0.45†	0.40	0.44	0.25	0.45
	CPS-LA	0.70	0.54	0.37	0.46	0.27	0.47
Divorced	IIMMLA	0.09	0.10	0.14*	0.12	0.15	0.12
	CPS-LA	0.08	0.09	0.09	0.1	0.11	0.10
Cohabiting	IIMMLA	0.13	0.14	0.08	0.11	0.06	0.09
	CPS-LA	0.01	0.02	0.01	0.01	0.02	0.01
Single	IIMMLA	0.18	0.30†	0.38*	0.34**	0.55	0.36*
	CPS-LA	0.21	0.36	0.54	0.43	0.61	0.42
Observations	IIMMLA	68	135	302	182	213	200
	CPS-LA	989	317	600	406	385	1505

Source: IIMMLA, 2004, and CPS-LA June Fertility Supplement, 1998–2010.

^aRemains significant even when controlling for differences in marital status.

^bNegative binomial regression; comparisons between surveys include control for age.

^cRobust regression.

^dDifferences estimated using a series of logistic regressions.

*p < .05.

**p < .01.

†p < .10.

Appendix Full results from negative binomial regressions of fertility on independent variables, women in Los Angeles, ages 20–40

	Model 1		Model 2		Model 3		Model 4
Race/generation status
1st generation	2.16	**	1.27	†	1.62	**	1.13
	(0.26)		(0.16)		(0.21)		(0.15)
1.5 generation	1.94	**	1.4	**	1.52	**	1.26	*
	(0.21)		(0.15)		(0.18)		(0.14)
2nd generation	1.81	**	1.45	**	1.53	**	1.39	**
	(0.18)		(0.14)		(0.16)		(0.14)
3rd-plus generation	1.55	**	1.26	*	1.35	**	1.20+	†
	(0.16)		(0.13)		(0.15)		(0.12)
3rd generation	1.35	*	1.13		1.22		1.09
	(0.18)		(0.15)		(0.16)		(0.14)
4th-plus generation	1.76	**	1.38	**	1.49	**	1.31	*
	(0.21)		(0.16)		(0.19)		(0.16)
Non-Hispanic white	Ref.		Ref.		Ref.		Ref.
Black	1.53	**	1.27	*	1.56	**	1.44	**
	(0.16)		(0.13)		(0.17)		(0.15)
Age
R’s Age	1.79	**	1.83	**	1.62	**	1.65	**
	(0.11)		(0.11)		(0.1)		(0.1)
Mean-centered Age^2	0.99	**	0.99	**	0.99	**	0.99
	(0.0)		(0.0)		(0.0)		(0.0)
Educational Attainment
Less than HS	-		1.54	**	-		1.54	**
			(0.12)				(0.13)
HS/VoTech	-		1.21	**	-		1.18	*
			(0.08)				(0.08)
Some College/Associates degree	-		Ref.		-		Ref.
Bachelor's degree or more	-		0.61	**	-		0.65	**
			(0.06)				(0.06)
Enrolled in school	-		0.62		-		0.7	*
			(0.11)				(0.11)
Family Background
Married	-		-		Ref.		Ref.
Divorced/separated	-		-		0.86	*	0.84	*
					(0.07)		(0.06)
Cohabiting	-		-		1.06		1.0
					(0.09)		(0.07)
Single	-		-		0.44	**	0.43	**
					(0.04)		(0.04)
Siblings
None	-		-		Ref.		Ref.
One	-		-		1.5	†	1.56	*
					(0.31)		(0.31)
Two	-		-		1.38		1.37
					(0.28)		(0.27)
Three	-		-		1.63	*	1.57	*
					(0.33)		(0.31)
Four or more	-		-		1.79	**	1.6	*
					(0.34)		(0.3)
Intermarried	-		-		0.87		1.0
					(0.09)		(0.1)
Observations	1100		1100		1100		1100
Pseudo R-squared	0.09		0.13		0.13		0.16

Source: IIMMLA, 2004.

^† p < .10.

* p < .05.

** p < .01.