Let's add a little more context to this discussion...
Steep Rise In Interracial Marriages Among Newlyweds 50 Years After They Became Legal
May 18, 20172:08 PM ET
Hansi Lo Wang - Square
Close to 50 years after interracial marriages became legal across the U.S., the share of newlyweds married to a spouse of a different race or ethnicity has increased more than five times — from 3 percent in 1967, to 17 percent in 2015, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center.
Asian and Latino newlyweds are more likely to marry outside of their race or ethnicity than black and white newlyweds
More than a quarter of Asian newlyweds (29 percent) and Latino newlyweds (27 percent) are married to a spouse of a different race or ethnicity. Those rates go up even higher for those born in the U.S. — to 46 percent for Asian newlyweds and 39 percent for Hispanic newlyweds.
Despite lagging behind Asian and Hispanic newlyweds, black and white newlyweds experienced the most dramatic growth in the rate of interracial and interethnic marriages. The rate for black newlyweds has more than tripled since 1980 — from 5 percent to 18 percent. For white newlyweds, the rate has almost tripped from 4 percent to 11 percent over the same period.
Interracial and interethnic marriages are more common among college-educated black and Latino newlyweds, but not among white or Asian newlyweds
While educational level is not a major factor for white newlyweds, black and Latino newlyweds with at least a bachelor's degree are more likely to have a spouse of a different race or ethnicity than those with some college experience or less education. That educational gap is starkest among Latino newlyweds. As the authors of the Pew report, Gretchen Livingston and Anna Brown, write: "While almost half (46 percent) of Hispanic newlyweds with a bachelor's degree were intermarried in 2015, this share drops to (16 percent) for those with a high school diploma or less – a pattern driven partially, but not entirely, by the higher share of immigrants among the less educated."
But among Asian newlyweds, those with some college experience (39 percent) are more likely to marry someone of a different race or ethnicity than those with a bachelor's degree or higher (29 percent) or with a high school diploma or less (26 percent). "Asian newlyweds with some college are somewhat less likely to be immigrants, and this may contribute to the higher rates of intermarriage for this group," the Pew report suggests. But it also notes that this trend also holds true for Asian newlyweds who were not born in the U.S.
Source:
NPR
Where the Growth Happened
All states experienced an increase in the percentage of interracial and interethnic married-couple households from 2000 to 2012-2016.
Two states, Hawaii and Oklahoma, and the District of Columbia increased by 4.34 percentage points or more.
Nine states, located mostly in the West and the Mid-Atlantic region, increased by 3.34 to 4.33 percentage points.
Seventeen states increased by 2.40 to 3.33 percentage points.
The remaining 22 states increased by less than 2.40 percentage points.
Image Source: US Census
Image Source: US Census
What's behind the rise of interracial marriage in the US?
Attitudes, migration patterns, availability of partners and education are all factors of interracial and interethnic marriages
For a start, there’s huge geographic variation in where intermarriage happens; it’s more common in metropolitan areas than rural places (18% compared to 11%) according to a Pew analysis of the Census Bureau’s figures. But those are just averages – US metropolitan areas vary significantly from Honolulu, Hawaii, where 42% of weddings are interracial to Jackson, Mississippi where the figure is just 3%.
Overall, the most common type of intermarriage is between a partner who is white and one who is Hispanic of any race – those relationships accounted for 38% of all intermarriages in 2010. White-Asian couples accounted for another 14% of intermarriages, and white-black couples made up 8%. You can find detailed maps of intermarriage patterns at a county level in this Census Bureau poster.
There are gender patterns in this data too. In 2008, 22% of black male newlyweds chose partners of another race, compared to just 9% of black female newlyweds. The gender pattern is the opposite among Asians. While 40% of Asian females married outside their race in 2008, just 20% of Asian male newlyweds did the same. For whites and Hispanics though, Pew found no gender differences.
These numbers aren’t simply a matter of love. They’re the consequence of economic, political and cultural factors. To list just a few:
Attitudes (plain racism): While 72% of black respondents said it would be fine with them if a family member chose to marry someone of another racial or ethnic group, 61% of whites and 63% of Hispanics said the same. More specifically though, Americans aren’t comfortable with specific kinds of intermarriage. A Pew survey found that acceptance of out-marriage to whites (81%) was higher than is acceptance of out-marriage to Asians (75%), Hispanics (73%) or blacks (66%).
Migration patterns: The Census Bureau provided the following examples: “the removal of many American Indian tribes from their original lands to reservation lands; historically higher proportions of Hispanics living in the Southwest; historically higher proportions of Asians living in the West” all of which shape where intermarriages happen and between whom.
Availability of partners: Systematic incarceration of young black men, together with higher death rates contribute to the fact that black women are much less likely to get married than women of any other race or ethnicity in the US. This, together with higher black unemployment rates mean that black individuals make up a relatively small share of all marriages, including intermarriages.
Education: People with a higher educational attainment are more likely to intermarry. This affects geographic patterns too – areas with higher educational attainment are more likely to have more interracial couples living there.
Source:
The Guardian
Prev
Linear Mode
