More Benefits, Fewer Children : How Regularization Affects Immigrant Fertility

How do policies that ease the integration of immigrants shape their fertility decisions? We use a panel survey of undocumented Venezuelan migrants in Colombia to compare the fertility decisions of households before and after the launch of an amnesty program that granted such migrants a labor permit and access to social services. Our results suggest the amnesty reduced the likelihood that program beneficiaries would have a child due to better labor market opportunities for women and greater access to family planning resources through health care services