Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 July 2008
Relationships between migration and fertility are examined, using data from the OPCS Longitudinal Study of England and Wales, including linked information from the 1971 and 1981 Censuses and birth registration data for the period 1971–80. The results showed that the proportion moving between the 1971 Census and the first subsequent birth was higher among tenants than owner occupiers, particularly for women in shared accommodation in 1971. The association between tenure and moving was more consistent than the relationship between moving and the husband's social class. Differences in the proportions moving between the censuses were positively associated with fertility in the same period particularly for women in potentially crowded accommodation in 1971. Moving in 1970–71 was not associated with differences in parity progression ratios 1971–81. There were, however, differences in the timing of births, suggesting that long distance migration was associated with a postponement of the first or second child, probably because both longer distance migration and fertility behaviour are associated with other characteristics such as education.