The own children method for event history analysis. A study of the transition to motherhood for women migrated from Veneto in the 1950s

This paper aims at studying the assimilation process of migrants moved from the North-East Italian region of Veneto in the 1950s into the society of receiving regions. In particular, the relationship between fertility and migration is considered. A quite innovative approach lies on the matching between own children method and event history analysis; this allows us to consider current status data, such as those of the 1981 population census, to know demographic events. Piecewise constant exponential models are used to study the birth of the first child for women aged 30-34 (at the census) moved from Veneto towards the North-West Italian regions of Piemonte and Lombardia. Results show that these emigrant women experienced a gradual assimilation to fertility behaviour of the host society.