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Title: Declining Racial Stratification in Marriage Choices? Trends in Black-White Status Exchange in the US 1980-2010

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2014

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Abstract: The status exchange hypothesis suggests that in black-white marriages one spouses educational status is traded for the other spouses racial status. Exchange is claimed to emerge from strong barriers between racial groups. If so, exchange should decline as interracial marriage becomes more common. We examine trends in status exchange among black-white marriages between 1980 and 2010, a period over which these unions have increased from 0.4% to 2.2% of all young couples. Contrary to expectations, status exchange between black men and white women has not declined but somewhat increased, suggesting that racial stratification in the marriage market remains strong. This trend is the product of two countervailing forces: exchange has increased across cohorts but declines as cohorts age and experience late marriage and remarriage. Trends over time are similar for married and cohabiting couples, suggesting that status exchange defines all types of interracial unions.

Url: http://populationcenter.as.nyu.edu/docs/CP/4901/16-TorcheRichWorkingPaper.pdf

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Authors: Torche, Florencia; Rich, Peter

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Publication Number: 2012-16

Institution: New York University

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Publisher Location: New York, New York

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Family and Marriage, Other, Race and Ethnicity

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