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New Marriages, New Families: U.S. Racial and Hispanic Intermarriage
Population Bulletin, Jun 2005 by Lee, Sharon M, Edmonston, Barry
Intermarriage among U.S.-born Hispanic men and women was three times that of foreign-born Hispanics who were not naturalized citizens (Figure 11). Around 30 percent of U.S.-born married Hispanic men and women were intermarried in 2000, compared with only 10 percent of foreign-born Hispanics who were not citizens. Foreign-born Hispanics who were naturalized citizens had intermediate intermarriage rates: about 14 percent among Hispanic men and 18 percent among Hispanic women who were naturalized citizens.
Geographic Variations
More than 3 percent of all married couples in 2000 were inter-Hispanic, but this percentage was at least 6 percent in the West, where 43 percent of U.S. Hispanics live. In 2000, more than 40 percent of all inter-Hispanic couples lived in the West.
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New Mexico, California, and Arizona-which have large Hispanic populations-also have the highest proportions of inter-Hispanic couples (see Figure 12). The fourth leading state, Hawaii, does not have a large Hispanic population, but does have high intermarriage.49 Other states with high proportions of inter-Hispanic couples include Colorado, Nevada, Texas, Florida, Utah, and Wyoming-all states with large and growing Hispanic populations.
Inter-Hispanic couples are uncommon in many states with small Hispanic populations. Less than 1 percent of married couples are inter-Hispanic in West Virginia, Kentucky, Vermont, Maine, South Dakota, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Alabama.
Children in Inter-Hispanic Families
In 1970, there were around 800,000 children age 18 and younger living in families with inter-Hispanic parents. As the number of Hispanics has grown and Hispanic intermarriage increased, the number of children in inter-Hispanic families passed 1 million in 1980 and 2 million in 2000. In five states-New Mexico, Arizona, Hawaii, Colorado, and California- 7 percent or more of all children live in inter-Hispanic families. These are the same states with the highest proportions of inter-Hispanic couples.
Hispanic Identity
Most children living in families with inter-Hispanic married parents are reported as Hispanic (see Figure 13, page 28). In 1970, 42 percent of children living with inter-Hispanic couples were reported as Hispanic. The proportion of children who were reported as Hispanic increased to 66 percent in 1980, and has since stabilized at around 63 percent. This high level throughout the period may reflect the fact that people have been able to choose race separately from Hispanic ethnicity. People could choose Hispanic ethnicity as well as white or another race category.
Because the majority of inter-Hispanic children are reported as Hispanic, Hispanic intermarriage may have been a factor in the phenomenal growth of the U.S. Hispanic population in recent years, and it has important implications for future growth and characteristics of the Hispanic population. In particular, if Hispanic intermarriage rates increase, more and more people who identify as Hispanic may be part Hispanic and part non-Hispanic. At the same time, there is a large minority (over one-third) of partHispanic children who are not reported as Hispanic; thus, the "non-Hispanic" population includes large numbers of people with Hispanic origins.
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