Fertility and multiculturalism: Immigrant fertility in Australia, 1977-1991

This article examines the fertility patterns of immigrant groups in Australia during the period, 1977-1991. In this period, the previous policies of assimilation or integration of immigrants into mainstream culture were set aside in favor of a policy of multiculturalism, one of the dimensions of which was support for maintenance of culture. The general finding of research relating to the period prior to multiculturalism was that immigrants adapted to Australian fertility patterns. This study examines whether immigrants and their children in the era of multiculturalism have been more likely to maintain the fertility patterns of their country of origin than was the case in the past. The study concludes that while adaptation to Australian patterns remains the dominant feature of the fertility patterns of immigrants, Italian and Greek Australians show evidence of cultural maintenance.