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Title: Cross-country variation in interracial marriage: a USACanada comparison of metropolitan areas

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2015

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Abstract: While blackwhite intermarriage is uncommon in the USA, blacks in Canada are just as likely to marry whites as to marry blacks. Asians, in contrast, are more likely to marry whites in the USA than in Canada. We test the claim that high rates of interracial marriage are indicative of high levels of social integration against Peter Blau's macrostructural thesis that relative group size is the key to explaining differences in intermarriage rates across marriage markets. Using micro-data drawn from the American Community Survey and the Canadian census, we demonstrate that the relative size of racial groups accounts for over two-thirds of the USACanada difference in blackwhite unions and largely explains the cross-country difference in Asianwhite unions. Under broadly similar social and economic conditions, a large enough difference in relative group size can become the predominant determinant of group differences in the prevalence of interracial unions.

Url: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01419870.2015.1005644#abstract

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Authors: Hou, Feng; Wu, Zheng; Schimmele, Christoph; Myles, John

Periodical (Full): Ethic and Racial Studies

Issue: 9

Volume: 38

Pages: 1591-1609

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Family and Marriage, Race and Ethnicity

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