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Welcome to Joseph Harrison
April 2024
We welcome Joseph Harrison to the MigrantLife team. Joseph joins us as a Research Fellow.
Residential mobility and housing changes among immigrants and their descendants in the United Kingdom
April 2024
A new Working Paper, by Dr Julia Mikolai and Prof Hill Kulu, investigating residential and housing changes among immigrants and their descendants in the UK is now available. Read the paper here.
Intermarriage and housing upon separation. A matter of resources and bargaining power?
March 2024
An article by Dr Julie Lacroix, Dr Julia Mikolai and Prof Hill Kulu researching ‘Intermarriage and housing upon separation. A matter of resources and bargaining power?’ has been published in the Journal of Marriage and Family. Read the article here.
Stockholm University Sessions on Migration
March 2024
Dr Mary Abed Al Ahad is presenting a seminar on ‘The determinants of first-time homeownership across the generations of immigrants in Sweden’ as part of Stockholm University’s Department of Sociology Seminars, 12 March.
LabFam seminar series
February 2024
Prof Hill Kulu presented on ‘Family and employment trajectories among immigrants and their descendants in Europe’ as part of the LabFam seminar series, University of Warsaw, 20 February.
Homeownership across immigrant generations and countries of origin in Sweden
January 2024
Dr Mary Abed Al Ahad gave a Population and Health Research Group (PHRG) Seminar on 30 Janaury, presenting findings from the latest MigrantLife paper on homeownership across immigrant generations and countries of origin in Sweden. A photo from the presentation can be viewed on X/Twitter.
Projection of Migrant Family Life-courses in Britain
December 2023
Prof Hill Kulu gave a talk on “Projection of Migrant Family Life-courses in Britain” at the IMPRS-PHDS Annual Academy in the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (Rostock, Germany). He showed the advantages of using a multistate approach and microsimulation to project migrant and minority family life-courses.
Project findings referenced in evidence to UK Parliament
December 2023
Findings from ‘CPC Policy Briefing 68: Poverty and the UK post-Brexit points-based immigration system‘ have been referenced by “A Better Start” in their written evidence (page 2, footnote 7) to the UK Parliament for the parliamentary inquiry ‘Impact of the rising cost of living on women’, launched by the Women and Equalities Committee, chaired by MP Caroline Nokes.
Homeownership Across Immigrant Groups and Generations in Sweden: Assimilation or Segmentation?
December 2023
A new Working Paper by Dr Mary Abed Al Ahad, Prof Gunnar Andersson, and Prof Hill Kulu investigating entry into homeownership across immigrant groups and generations using large administrative individual-level longitudinal data from Sweden is now available. Read the paper here.
Wittgenstein Centre Conference 2023
December 2023
On 6 December, Dr Mary Abed Al Ahad will give an oral presentation entitled ‘Determinants and heterogeneity of first-time homeownership across the immigrants and their descendants in Sweden’ in the Migration session at the Wittgenstein Centre Conference 2023 – Exploring Population Heterogeneities. The conference agenda can be found here and information about how to watch here.
Testing policy options using synthetic data and microsimulations
November 2023
Dr Andreas Hoehn, was invited to present at the invitation-only ‘High Level Expert Workshop’ entitled ‘Connecting Population and Crisis Foresight to Policy Challenges’ on 14 November 2023. He presented on ‘Testing policy options using synthetic data and microsimulations’ at the event, organised by the FutuRes Consortium and Population Europe. Read more about the event here.
The housing integration of asylum seekers and refugees in Germany
November 2023
A new working paper, by Dr Chia Liu and Prof Hill Kulu, has been published that examines the residential mobility and homeownership of refugees and other immigrant groups who entered Germany through various legal pathways. This research offers valuable insights into how the legal pathway of entry into the country can influence the intentions of immigrants to establish long-term roots and make significant investments, such as purchasing a home, while also shedding light on the heightened residential mobility and social exclusion risks faced by refugees. Read the paper here.
Visit to Sapienza University
October 2023
Dr Chia Liu visited Sapienza University in Rome, sharing findings from the MigrantLife project to PhD students and staff.
60th birthday of the Hungarian Demographic Research Institute
September 2023
Prof Hill Kulu travelled to Budapest to give a talk on family and employment trajectories among immigrants and their descendants in Europe at a conference for the 60th birthday of the Hungarian Demographic Research Institute.
British Society for Population Studies (BSPS) Conference
September 2023
The MigrantLife team presented work at the 50th anniversary British Society for Population Studies (BSPS) Conference held in Keele, England. Prof Hill Kulu presented research on residential mobility and housing changes among immigrants and their descendants in the UK, Parth Pandya presented work on understanding family, employment and housing patterns of immigrants and their descendants in England and Wales through a spatial context, Mary Abed Al Ahad presented research on the determinants of first-time homeownership across the generations of immigrants in Sweden, Dr Chia Liu presented work examining residential mobility and housing tenure of immigrants in Germany by legal status, and Andrew Ibbetson presented projections of migrant family life-courses in Britain. Congratulations to Dr Sarah Christison who won the best poster award for work on the future of Ukraine’s population, co-authored with Prof Hill Kulu, Dr Chia Liu, and Dr Julia Mikolai.
Origin, generation, and context
August 2023
A new working paper has been published that investigates the link between childbearing and employment changes of female immigrants and their descendants in three European countries. Read the paper here.
Invited talk – Federal Institute for Population Research
July 2023
Prof Hill Kulu gave an invited talk on “Family and Employment Trajectories among Immigrants and Their Descendants in Europe” in the Federal Institute for Population Research (Wiesbaden, Germany). He gave an overview of research conducted in the MigrantLife project and discussed the findings in the light of competing theories of immigrant and ethnic minority integration: the classical theory of assimilation vs the segmented assimilation theory.
Celebrating 50 years
July 2023
Mary Abed Al Ahad presented research on first-time homeownership across the generations of immigrants in Sweden in the 50th Anniversary Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) conference that took place in Wiesbaden, Germany (3-5 July 2023).
Sharing findings at ‘Lessons learned from the Russo-Ukraine conflict’ workshop
July 2023
Dr Chia Liu and Dr Sarah Christison shared findings from a joint paper, led by Prof Hill Kulu, ‘The war, refugees, and the future of Ukraine’s population‘ at the “Lessons learned from the Russo-Ukraine conflict” workshop organised by the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews on 4 July 2023. They spoke about how the future of Ukraine’s population depends on different return migration scenarios, to international relations experts, foreign office officials, and military personnel.
Invited presentation – Royal Statistical Society
June 2023
Dr Andreas Hoehn, was invited to give a presentation for the Royal Statistical Society Glasgow Local Group on 14 June 2023. The presentation titled ‘Reproducible research in large scale and data safe haven settings – and how to overcome them’, was part of a 2-part seminar series on Reproducible Research. Further information about the event can be viewed here. The slides from the event can be viewed here.
Second MigrantLife Symposium 2023
June 2023
We were delighted to welcome 30 international migration scholars to the Second MigrantLife Symposium held in St Andrews this week (29-30 June 2023). The two-day event featured presentations on a range of topics pertaining to migration; including, employment and education, family and fertility, immigrant integration and assimilation, migration and housing, and health and mortality. We were proud to present Professor Nico Keilman and Professor Ayse Guveli as our keynote speakers. The full programme and book of abstracts from the event can be viewed here. Photos from the event can be viewed on Twitter @MigrantLife_ERC.
An Analysis of Register Data from France
June 2023
Dr Isaure Delaporte, Dr Ariane Pailhé, and Prof Hill Kulu have published a new working paper on ‘Residential Relocations and Housing Changes Among Immigrants and Their Descendants: An Analysis of Register Data from France’. The study investigates residential mobility and housing changes among immigrants, their descendants, and the native population, and examines the association between family/employment changes and residential mobility among immigrants, their descendants, and native-born individuals. Read the paper here.
Residential Mobility and Housing Tenure Changes Among Immigrants and Their Descendants
June 2023
Our new working paper on residential mobility and housing tenure changes among immigrants and their descendants in five European countries has been published. We examine differences across migrant generations, origin groups, and country contexts. Read the paper here.
Competing Family Pathways for Immigrants and Their Descendants in GermanyJune 2023In a paper recently published in International Migration Review, Prof Hill Kulu and Dr Chia Liu found that the liberalization of the family for structural and/or cultural reasons occurs at different pace across groups, though there is a general trend toward liberalization. Read the paper here.
The United Nations May 2023Prof Hill Kulu presented research of the MigrantLife team on the future of Ukraine’s population to a UN Inter-agency working group on population data, internal displacement and refugee data. The group consists of experts from UNFPA, UN Population Division, UNHCR, IOM, OCHA, and US Census Bureau. The paper is available here.
Invited talk at the University of ManchesterMay 2023Dr Julia Mikolai gave an invited talk at the University of Manchester Social Statistics Seminar Series on 2 May 2023 titled “Childbearing and Employment Changes of Female Immigrants and Descendants in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany”.
Welcome to Andrew Ibbetson!April 2023We welcome Andrew Ibbetson to the MigrantLife team. Andrew joins us as a Research Fellow.
PAA ConferenceApril 2023The MigrantLife team presented work at the Population Association of America (PAA) Conference in New Orleans, USA. Dr Julie Lacroix presented research on post-separation residential mobility among immigrant-native mixed couples, Prof Hill Kulu presented a poster on work-life expectancies among the descendants of immigrants in the UK, Dr Chia Liu presented a poster examining the divergence of labour force participation on motherhood among migrant descendants and natives in Germany, and a poster showing research on childbearing and employment changes of the female descendants of immigrants in the UK and France was also presented on behalf of Dr Julia Mikolai.
On the timing of marriage and childbearing: Family formation pathways among immigrants in Switzerland
April 2023
Dr Julie Lacroix, Dr Julia Mikolai, and Prof Hill Kulu have published a paper examining childbearing in and outside of marriage as a manifestation of the Second Demographic Transition among immigrant populations in Switzerland. Read the paper here.
The War, Refugees and the Future of Ukraine’s Population
March 2023
Our paper analysing the effect of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 on the future of Ukraine’s population has been published in Population, Space and Place. In the study we conduct a series of population projections with different assumptions on the proportion of refugees that may return to Ukraine, and highlight that the Russian invasion has not only lead to immense human and economic costs in Ukraine in the present but also carries long-term demographic repercussions. Read the paper here.
The World Bank
March 2023
Our research on ‘The War and the Future of Ukraine’s Population‘ has been cited by The World Bank in their recent report on Social Protection for Recovery. Their report highlights the immediate and dramatic consequences the war in Ukraine has had for the region’s socioeconomic landscape.
Primary school pupils get involved with demography
March 2023
On Thursday 9 March, Dr Chia Liu is looking forward to visiting Kingsbarns Primary School to teach pupils about the principles of demography, data science, and coding. Primary 1 to Primary 4 pupils will hear about the ways in which demographic data is used in our societies, and how we can organise information into knowledge. Primary 5 to Primary 7 pupils will get involved in discussions on what machines do better than humans and vice versa, and learn how coding can be used as a tool to solve problems.
The divergence of labour force participation upon motherhood among migrant descendants and natives in Germany
March 2023
Dr Chia Liu and Prof Hill Kulu have published a study investigating labour force participation of women of immigrant family background in Germany before and after having a first child. This work significantly enriches research on ethnic minority integration by highlighting the interplay between social background and ethnic origin. Read the working paper here.
Union formation and fertility amongst immigrants from Pakistan and their descendants in the United Kingdom
February 2023
A study by Joseph Harrison, Dr Katherine Keenan, Prof Frank Sullivan, and Prof Hill Kulu, investigating how fertility and partnership are intertwined and interdependent amongst Pakistani immigrants and their descendants in the United Kingdom relative to natives has been published today in Demographic Research. Read the article here.
Call for papers – 2nd MigrantLife Symposium
February 2023
An international symposium bringing together migration researchers to discuss innovative research on migrants and their descendants will be held on 29-30 June 2023 in St Andrews, Scotland, UK. We invite contributions in the following research areas of migration studies: fertility and family; employment and education; housing and residential mobility; and health and mortality. Research using longitudinal data and life course analysis will be given priority. Future projections and methodological contributions are very welcome. The closing date of the call for papers is 15 March 2023. Full details are available here.
Visit to Penn State
January 2023Dr Chia Liu will be visiting the Sociology Department at Penn State University on 30 January 2023 to provide an insight into the work of the MigrantLife project, highlighting some of our results and forecasts, and our ongoing work related to housing. We hope this will be of particular interest to those working on migration and family within their Population Research Group.
Population projection for Ukraine featured in The Economist
December 2022Our population projection for Ukraine has been featured in The Economist article ‘The war has worsened Ukraine’s demographic woes’ – read the article here. Our working paper ‘The War and the Future of Ukraine’s Population’ can be found here.
Second generation women’s presence in the labour market in Germany
November 2022Dr Chia Liu presented our research on second generation women’s presence in the labour market in Germany to 4th year Advanced Quantitative Analysis students and 2nd year Geographies of Global Change students at The University of St Andrews. In particular, highlighting the applications and strengths of event history analysis and discussing pertinent research questions on migrant descendants in Europe.
Poverty and the UK post-Brexit points-based immigration system
October 2022Does the UK’s points-based immigration system create greater poverty risks for working migrants with children compared to non-migrants? Find out in a newly published ESRC Centre for Population Change policy brief, where Dr Julia Mikolai and Prof Hill Kulu research immigrants’ partnership, fertility, and labour market trajectories in the UK. Read the policy brief here.
Visit to SUDA
October 2022Dr Chia Liu visited the Stockholm University Demography Unit (SUDA) on 6 October 2022 to give a seminar on joint work with Prof Hill Kulu: ‘Minority background or social inheritance of disadvantages? Labor market entrance of female migrant descendants in Germany’.
Loss of migrants’ rights post-BrexitSeptember 2022The EU is busy discussing ways to attract skills and talents, but what is the UK up to? Prof Traute Meyer, Dr Julia Mikolai, Dr Paul Bridgen, and Prof Hill Kulu explore the effects of Brexit on the growing inequality between working immigrants and UK residents. Read the Population Europe Policy Insight here.
Welcome to Mary Abed Al Ahad!September 2022We welcome Mary Abed Al Ahad to the MigrantLife team. Mary joins us as a Research Fellow and will focus on the study of family, employment and housing of immigrants and their descendants in Sweden from comparative perspective.
Heterogeneity or disadvantage in partnership, childbearing, and employment trajectories of the descendants of immigrants in the United Kingdom?
August 2022A new working paper by Dr Julia Mikolai and Professor Hill Kulu exploring the partnership, childbearing, and employment trajectories of immigrants’ descendants in the UK has now been published. Read the paper here.
Post-separation residential outcomes among immigrant, native, and immigrant-native mixed couples
August 2022A study by Dr Julie Lacroix, Dr Julia Mikolai and Professor Hill Kulu investigating post-separation residential outcomes among immigrant, native, and immigrant-native mixed couples has now been published. Read the paper here.
Welcome to Shubhankar Sharma!August 2022We welcome Shubhankar Sharma to the MigrantLife team. Shubh joins us as a Research Fellow and will focus on projections to understand and predict future life trajectories of immigrants and their descendants.
iMigMob 2022
July 2022
The third International Conference on Migration and Mobilities (iMigMob) is taking place this week in St Andrews. Dr Julia Mikolai will present ‘Partnership, Fertility, and Employment Trajectories of Immigrants in the UK: A Three-Channel Sequence Analysis’, and Dr Andreas Höhn will present ‘Timing and Levels of Fertility Among First- and Second-Generation Immigrants in Sweden: A Register-Based Longitudinal Study’.
European Population Conference 2022
June 2022
The European Population Conference (EPC) is being held this week in Groningen (29 June – 2 July 2022). Find out how the MigrantLife project team will be participating on our conferences webpage.
Refugee Crisis Aggravates Ukraine’s Demographic Collapse
June 2022
Our recent research, and an interview with Dr. Sarah Christison, was featured in The Wall Street Journal article ‘Refugee Crisis Aggravates Ukraine’s Demographic Collapse‘.
Nordic Demographic Symposium 2022
June 2022
Members of the MigrantLife project team are travelling to Oslo this week for the Nordic Demographic Symposium, where Professor Gunnar Andersson will present ‘Timing and Levels of Fertility Among First- and Second- Generation Immigrants in Sweden: A Register-Based Longitudinal Study’ and Dr. Isaure Delaporte will present ‘Family Formation and the Employment Outcomes of Immigrants in France: A Multilevel Multistate Approach’.
BBC Radio Interview
March 2022
Professor Hill Kulu was interviewed on Good Morning Scotland on 17 March 2022 about the effect of the war on Ukraine’s population. Listen to the interview at 42:22 here.
The War and the Future of Ukraine’s Population
March 2022
We have published a working paper on the effect of the war on Ukraine’s population. Our study highlights that the Russian invasion will not only lead to immense human and economic costs in Ukraine in the present, but also carries long-term demographic repercussions. Read the paper here.
MigrantLife Symposium 2022
March 2022
A two-day virtual symposium, featuring presentations on a range of topics pertaining to migration such as migrant fertility, employment, and family, was held on 14-15 March. We were proud to present Professor Helga de Valk as our keynote speaker, and welcome colleagues in the field who joined us for exchanges and discussion. The full programme can be viewed here. You can watch three of the presentations from the event here.
Childbearing Across the Generations of Immigrants and their Descendants in Sweden
February 2022
Our study investigating fertility among immigrants and their descendants in Sweden has been published as a working paper. Read the paper here.
Partnership, fertility, and employment trajectories of immigrants in the UK: A three-channel sequence analysis
January 2022
A study by Dr Julia Mikolai and Professor Hill Kulu investigating how partnership, fertility, and employment changes interact in the lives of migrants has now been published. Read the paper here.
Family trajectories among immigrants and their descendants in three European countries
January 2022
Our working paper investigating partnership changes and childbearing among immigrant women and men and their descendants born in the UK, France and Germany has now been published. Read the paper here.
Presentation at EAPS Working Group
December 2021
Dr Julie Lacroix gave a presentation on ‘Partnership and fertility transitions among immigrant cohorts in Switzerland’ at the EAPS Working Group on Register-Based Fertility Research, on 13 December 2021.
IUSSP International Population Conference
December 2021
Members of the MigrantLife team presented their work at the virtual IUSSP International Population Conference, 5-10 December 2021. Presentations included: family trajectories among immigrants and their descendants in three European countries; partnership, fertility and employment trajectories of immigrants in the UK; analysing individuals’ fertility behaviours using machine learning techniques; labor market integration of immigrant mothers in Germany; and migration and residential outcomes for immigrant-native mixed couples upon separation in Switzerland. The full programme is available here.
Presentation at the Centre for Demographic Studies (Barcelona)
December 2021
Immigrant women are less likely to engage in the labor market than immigrant men and native women. Is it due to legal restrictions? family reasons? or other characteristics? Dr Chia Liu explored this during a virtual presentation at the Centre for Demographic Studies (Barcelona) titled ‘Work-migration-life balance: Patterns of immigrant labor market engagement by parity‘, on 9 December 2021.
Migration call to UK leaders
October 2021
Professor Hill Kulu addressed the impact of migration at a Strategy Seminar on How the UK population is changing and why it matters with UK government Permanent Secretaries and Sir Ian Diamond, National Statistician, on 29 October 2021. Read more here.
Invited talk
October 2021
Dr Julia Mikolai gave an invited talk on 12 October 2021 at the Demography Breakfast seminar series of the Norwegian Demographic Association titled ‘Partnership, fertility, and employment trajectories of immigrants in the UK: A three-channel sequence analysis’.
Invited talk
September 2021
Dr Julia Mikolai gave an invited talk on 29 September 2021 at the Sociology seminar series at Trinity College Dublin titled ‘Partnership, fertility, and employment trajectories of immigrants in the UK: A three-channel sequence analysis’.
Participation at BSPS conference
September 2021
Members of the MigrantLife team presented their work at the virtual annual meeting of the British Society for Population Studies (BSPS), 14-15 September 2021. Presentations included country case studies on the fertility and employment of immigrants in the UK, France, and Germany as well as a comparative study on the link between partnership and fertility trajectories of immigrants and their descendants. The full programme is available here.
Welcome to Andreas Höhn!
July 2021
We welcome Andreas Höhn to the MigrantLife team. Andreas joins us as a Research Fellow and will investigate the lives of immigrants and their descendants using Swedish Register Data.
Family patterns of immigrants and their descendants in the UK
July 2021
Our working paper, by Dr. Julia Mikolai and Professor Hill Kulu, on the intersection of partnership and fertility trajectories of immigrants and their descendants in the UK was featured in the latest CPC Changing Populations newsletter.
Survival and Event History Analysis
June 2021
Professor Hill Kulu, Dr. Julia Mikolai, and Dr. Chia Liu taught a SGSSS training course on ‘Survival and Event History Analysis‘ for twenty PhD students and post-docs. The application of the method extends beyond social, environmental and health sciences, and can also include for example plant ecology (as the slide below illustrates – survival of tomatoes).
First comes marriage or first comes carriage?
May 2021
Dr. Chia Liu and Professor Hill Kulu examine the family processes for immigrants and natives by birth cohort and migrant generation in Germany, using the German Socio-economic Panel (GSOEP) in this working paper.
Differences in the family formation pathways of natives, immigrants, and their descendants in the UK
May 2021
Findings in our latest working paper, by Dr Julia Mikolai and Professor Hill Kulu, highlight persistent differences in the family formation pathways of natives, immigrants, and their descendants in the UK.
Welcome to Dr Julie Lacroix
May 2021
We welcome Dr Julie Lacroix who has joined the MigrantLife project. Julie has a PhD from Geneva and a MSc from Montreal. Recently, she was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship by the Swiss National Science Foundation to work on migrant integration in Switzerland using micro-data from population registers. We are very pleased that Julie has chosen St Andrews to conduct her project. Julie will stay with us until March 2023.
Invited talk
April 2021
Dr Julia Mikolai gave an invited talk on 1 April 2021 at the seminar series of the Population and Society Unit at the University of Florence titled ‘The intersection of partnership and fertility histories of immigrants and their descendants in the UK: A multi-state approach’.
Family behaviour of migrants
February 2021
A review by Professor Gunnar Andersson of research on family behaviour of migrants has been published.
Migrant families in France
February 2021
A study on migrant families in France has been published.
Tips and tricks in R
17 November 2020
Dr Chia Liu, University of St Andrews, shared some tips and tricks in R.
Sharing research
26 May 2020
Dr Isaure Delaporte, University of St Andrews, shared her research with us, on ‘The Family Dynamics of Immigrants and their Descendants in France: Evidence using Multichannel Sequence Analysis’.
2.5 million euros to study the lives of migrants
September 2019
Professor Hill Kulu has been awarded almost 2.5 million euros to study the lives of immigrants and their descendants in the UK, France, Germany and Sweden. For more information, click here.
