Marriage, childbearing, and migration in Kyrgyzstan: Exploring interdependences

In this study, we investigate interdependences between entry into a marital union, childbearing, and migration. We apply event-history techniques to retrospective data on women aged 18-29 from a survey conducted in northern Kyrgyzstan in 2005 to examine how these events can influence one another, with a special focus on the effects of duration of exposure. In our analysis, we account for several duration dependences ('clocks'). The results illustrate that months since marriage formation is the most important duration variable in the first-birth propensities model. Out-of-wedlock conception is associated with increased marriage risks prior to the childbirth. Migration is often a part of the family-formation process: High first-birth propensities of recent migrants, as well as high migration risks among pregnant women, are due to marriage-related migration.