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Natives’ and Immigrants’ Gender Preferences for Children in Germany

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Abstract

Little research has been conducted yet investigating gender preferences among immigrant parents in Western host countries. We add further empirical evidence to this sparse literature by analyzing pooled micro-census data for the years 2005–2013 from Germany. Next to updating earlier findings on the native population, we assess parental gender preferences in two large and culturally distinct groups of immigrants in Germany, namely those with Turkish and Polish origins. Our analysis indicates both daughter and son preferences in contemporary Germany and supports the notion of potentially changing gender preferences within ethnic groups over time as well as continuous differences between ethnic groups of natives and immigrants in Western societies. Whereas the observed differences between natives and immigrants suggest incomplete cultural assimilation with regard to gender- and family-related attitudes and values, they barely contribute to explaining differential fertility behaviors, as effects sizes tend to be fairly similar across groups.

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Fig. 1

Source: Federal Institute for Population Research (2018)

Notes

  1. A different but related strand of literature addresses the issue of sex-selective abortions among certain immigrant groups. In an influential study, Dubuc and Coleman (2007) analyzed the sex ratios of births to India-born mothers in England and Wales, suggesting that sex-selective abortions may have taken place in Britain. Similar findings have been reported for North America (e.g., Almond et al. 2013; Almond and Sun 2017; Puri et al. 2011) and Southern Europe (Ambrosetti et al. 2015; Gavalas et al. 2015; González 2014), for example.

  2. In the eighteenth century, a large number of Germans migrated to Eastern Europe. ‘Ethnic Germans’ are individuals of German descent who lived in formerly socialist countries of Eastern Europe. According to the German concept of nationhood, which is based on the ius sanguinis (‘right of blood’), and the German expellee legislation (Bundesvertriebenengesetz), these individuals can immediately claim German citizenship, if they decide to resettle in Germany (cf. Kreyenfeld and Konietzka 2002: Sect. 2).

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  1. Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology, University of Cologne, Albertus-Magnus-Platz, 50923, Cologne, Germany

    Sarah Carol & Karsten Hank

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  1. Sarah Carol
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  2. Karsten Hank
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Correspondence to Sarah Carol.

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Carol, S., Hank, K. Natives’ and Immigrants’ Gender Preferences for Children in Germany. Eur J Population 36, 235–246 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-019-09527-y

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