New Marriages, New Families: U.S. Racial and Hispanic Intermarriage

Population Bulletin, Jun 2005 by Lee, Sharon M, Edmonston, Barry

Education

Intermarriage rates tend to increase with education. There are two distinct patterns for this relationship. In the first pattern, intermarriage increases linearly with education. This pattern holds for blacks, American Indians, Hawaiians, and SORs. Nine percent of blacks with a bachelor's degree or higher are intermarried, for example, compared with 5 percent of blacks who have less than a high school education, and 6 percent of high school graduates and those with some college (see Figure 4).

In the second pattern, the percent intermarried increases up to the "some college" group, then declines among the most educated group, college graduates and above. Whites, Asians, and multiple-race Americans follow this pattern. Ten percent of married Asians with less than high school education are intermarried. The percent then increases to 19 percent for Asian high school graduates and 22 percent for Asians with some college, but declines to 15 percent among Asians with a college degree or higher (see Figure 4).

Nativity

U.S.-born adults have lower intermarriage rates than foreign-born adults, but this relationship varies by race and gender. About 5 percent of U.S.-born men and women were intermarried in 2000, compared with at least 8 percent of foreign-born men and women. But the U.S.-born population is dominated by whites and blacks, two groups with fairly low racial intermarriage rates (see Table 2, page 12). About 8 percent of foreign-born men (regardless of citizenship status) were intermarried, while 12 percent of women who were naturalized citizens were intermarried, and 9 percent of foreign-born women who were not citizens were intermarried. Foreign-born spouses, especially wives, are important contributors to the increase in intermarriage and, therefore, to the increased diversity of the U.S. population.35

Among white and black husbands, foreign-born men have slightly higher rates of intermarriage than U.S.-born men. For other racial groups, we see the reverse, with considerably higher rates of intermarriage for the U.S.-born. Almost one-third of U.S.-born Asian husbands were intermarried, compared with 7 percent of foreignborn Asian husbands who are naturalized citizens, and 5 percent of foreign-born Asian husbands who were not citizens (see Figure 5).

Foreign-born white and black wives have higher rates of intermarriage than U.S.-born white and black wives. Seven percent of foreign-born black wives (regardless of citizenship) were intermarried, compared with 4 percent of their U.S-born counterparts (see Figure 5). For other racial groups, foreign-born women had much lower rates of intermarriage than U.S.-born women. Among married Asian women, for example, 14 percent of foreign-born noncitizens were intermarried, compared with 22 percent of naturalized citizens and 44 percent of U.S.-born wives.

Geographic Variation

Interracial couples are more likely to reside in more populous areas and in areas where the population is racially diverse because these factors facilitate intermarriage. Racially diverse areas also tend to be more urbanized, which allows for more opportunities for people of different racial backgrounds to meet at work or school.36