Marriage, childbearing, and migration in Kyrgyzstan: Exploring interdependencies

Lesia Nedoluzhko; Victor Agadjanian

Volume 22 - Article 7 | Pages 159–188

Marriage, childbearing, and migration in Kyrgyzstan: Exploring interdependencies

By Lesia Nedoluzhko, Victor Agadjanian

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Date received:	29 Jan 2009
Date published:	02 Feb 2010
Word count:	7735
Keywords:	childbearing, duration dependency, Kyrgyzstan, marriage, migration
DOI:	10.4054/DemRes.2010.22.7

Abstract

In our study we investigate interdependencies between entry into a marital union, childbearing, and migration. We apply event-history techniques to retrospective data on women aged 18-29 from a survey conducted in northern Kyrgyzstan in 2005 to examine how these events can influence one another, with a special focus on the effects of duration of exposure. In addition we analyze the impact of some individual characteristics on the propensity to get married, to become a mother, and to migrate. In our analysis we account for several duration dependences (‘clocks’). The results illustrate that months since marriage formation is the most important duration variable in the first-birth propensities model. Out-of-wedlock conception is associated with increased marriage risks. Migration is often a part of the family building process: high first-birth propensities of recent migrants as well as high migration risks among pregnant women are due to marriage-related migration.