The analysis of the relationship between fertility and immigration: The case of Turkey

The population of countries is a phenomenon that changes in quality and quantity due to birth, migration and death. Especially in recent years in Turkey, the increase in the number of women migrating population and the change in fertility behavior with migration has been concerned. In this context, in Turkey, to understand the socio-economic adaptation process of migrant women and the change in family structures in the destination places, it is necessary to analyze the behavior of migrant women's fertility. The study of fertility within the economic framework was first proposed by Becker (1960) and many studies have been conducted in the literature. In studies examining the relationship between fertility and migration, four hypotheses, namely adaptation, disruptive effect, selectivity, and socialization hypothesis, came to the fore. The aim of this study is to determine the factors affecting fertility in Turkey using Turkey Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data and evaluating the effect of internal migration on fertility in terms of adaptation, disruptive effect, selectivity hypothesis using the Robust Poisson regression model through count data models. In the analyzes, the number of children owned has been taken as a fertility indicator. In addition, in this study, the existence of the spatial relationship between migration and fertility has been investigated. According to the findings obtained from this study, disruptive effect hypothesis and spatial relationship is valid for explaining the relationship between migration and fertility in Turkey. It has been seen that the adaptation hypothesis and the selectivity hypothesis have been not valid. In addition, it has been determined that the time taken for adaptation to take place after the disruptive effect is removed should be more than five years.