Immigration and Intermarriage Among Hispanics: Crossing Racial and Generational Boundaries1

Rates of Hispanic intermarriage with whites declined for the first time during the 1990s. One hypothesis, which we test here, is that the recent influx of new immigrants has provided an expanding marriage market for Hispanics, reinforced cultural and ethnic identity, and slowed the process of marital assimilation. In this article, we use data from the March Current Population Survey (1995–2008) to identify generational differences in Hispanic‐white intermarriage. The results indicate that second‐generation Hispanics were more likely to marry first‐ rather than third‐generation Hispanics or whites, a pattern that was reinforced over the study period. The results suggest declining rates of intermarriage among second‐generation Hispanics—a pattern that diverges sharply from those observed among third‐plus‐generation Hispanics, where in‐marriage with other Hispanics declined over time. If couched in the language of straight line assimilation theory, third‐plus‐generation Hispanics are assimilating by increasingly marrying other third‐generation co‐ethnics and whites. On the other hand, assimilation among the second‐generation is slowing down as its members increasingly reconnect to their native culture by marrying immigrants.     

Divergent Pathways to Assimilation? Local Marriage Markets and Intermarriage Among U.S. Hispanics

The growing diversity of the U.S. population raises questions about integration among America's fastest growing minority population—Hispanics. The canonical view is that intermarriage with the native‐born White population represents a pathway to assimilation that varies over geographic space in response to uneven marital opportunities. Using data on past‐year marriage from the 2009–2014 American Community Survey, the authors demonstrate high rates of intermarriage among Hispanics. The analyses identify whether Hispanics marry coethnics, non‐co‐ethnic Hispanics, non‐Hispanic Whites, non‐Hispanic Blacks, or other minorities. The authors highlight variation by race, nativity, and socioeconomic status and reveal that Hispanics living in new immigrant destinations are more likely to intermarry than those living in traditional Hispanic gateways. Indeed, the higher out‐marriage in new destinations disappears when the demographic context of reception is taken into account. The analysis underscores that patterns of marital assimilation among Hispanics are neither monolithic nor expressed uniformly across geographic space.     

Intermarriage,Ethnic Identity,and Perceived Social Standing Among Asian Women in the United States

This study investigates the consequences of Asian women's intermarriage—whether it is associated with higher social standing and lower ethnic identity, using data on Asian women (N = 589) from the National Latino and Asian American Survey (NLAAS). The socioeconomic status of partners of women who intermarried and partners of women who married men of the same ethnicity are compared. The potential associations between intermarriage and two subjective measures—ethnic identity and perceived social standing—are explored. The study rejects the hypothesis based on the conventional belief that Asian women in the United States find “better” partners with higher socioeconomic status from other racial or ethnic groups. The findings support the view that marital assimilation leads to identificational assimilation and demonstrate that intermarriage is not associated with higher perceived social standing. The results suggest that educational and occupational endogamy plays a larger role in Asian women's intermarriage than social exchange.     

Nativity,Duration of Residence,Citizenship, and Access to Health Care for Hispanic Children

This article examines differences in access to a regular source of health care for children of Hispanic subgroups within the United States. Particular attention is paid to the impact of the immigration status of the mother – including nativity, duration in the United States, and citizenship status – and its affect on access to health care for Hispanic children. Data are pooled from the National Health Interview Survey for 1999–2001 and logistic regression models are estimated to compare Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Other Hispanic children with non‐Hispanic whites and blacks. While initial disparities are recorded among the race/ethnic groups, in the final model, only Mexican American children display significantly less access to health care than non‐Hispanic whites. The combined influence of the mother's nativity, duration, and citizenship status explains much of the differentials in access to a regular source of care among children of Hispanic subgroups in comparison to non‐Hispanic whites.     

Patterns,Determinants, and Implications of Intermarriage Among Arab Americans

This study examines Arab American intermarriage using 1990 U.S. Census data. The results indicate high rates of intermarriage consistent with an assimilation perspective. Over 80% of U.S.‐born Arabs had non‐Arab spouses, implying a diminishing ethnic identification. Logistic regressions show that for both sexes, those with part Arab ancestry, the U.S. born, those with strong English‐language ability, and the highly educated were significantly more likely to out‐marry, as were Arabs of Lebanese ancestry. The cultural and structural assimilation of Arab Americans is facilitating intermarriage, with indicators of acculturation being the strongest predictors, especially for women. The article further discusses ethnic options for children of intermarried couples.     

Nativity,Duration of Residence,and the Health of Hispanic Adults in the United States1

This article examines subgroup differences in the health status of Hispanic adults in comparison to non‐Hispanic whites and non‐Hispanic blacks. We pay particular attention to the influences of nativity and duration of residence in the United States. Data are pooled from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) for 1989–94. Puerto Ricans exhibited the worst health outcomes of any group (including whites and blacks) for each of the three health measures. Persons of Central/South American origin exhibited the most favorable outcomes for activity limitations and bed sick days, advantages that were eliminated when controlled for nativity/duration. For two of the three health status variables, Mexican Americans were very similar to non‐Hispanic whites in baseline models and were more favorable than non‐Hispanic whites once socio‐economic factors were controlled; this was not the case, however, for self‐reported overall health. Immigration also helped to explain the relatively positive outcomes among Central/South American origin individuals, Cubans, and Mexican Americans. For most Hispanic groups (as well as non‐Hispanic whites and non‐Hispanic blacks), immigrants reported better health than the U.S. born, which is consistent with a selectivity hypothesis of immigrant health. In addition, this advantage tended to be significantly smaller among immigrants with ten or more years' duration in the United States. Although the latter finding is consistent with the negative acculturation hypothesis, alternative interpretations, including the generally more limited access of immigrants to the formal health care system, are suggested.     

Geographic Mobility and Spatial Assimilation among U. S. Latino Immigrants1

Although the spatial assimilation of immigrants to the United States has important implications for social theory and social policy, few studies have explored the atterns and determinants of interneighborhood geographic mobility that lead to immigrants’residential proximity to the white, non‐Hispanic majority. We explore this issue by merging data from three different sources ‐ the Latino National Political Survey, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, and tract‐level census data ‐ to begin unraveling causal relationships among indicators of socioeconomic, social, cultural, segmented, and spatial assimilation. Our longitudinal analysis of 700 Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban immigrants followed from 1990 to 1995 finds broad support for hypotheses derived from the classical account of minority assimilation. High income, English language use, and embeddedness in Anglo social contexts increase Latino immigrants’geographic mobility into Anglo neighborhoods. U. S. citizenship and years spent in the United Stares are ppsidvely associated with geographic mobility into more Anglo neighbor oods, and coethnic contact is inversely associated with this form of mobility, but these associations operate largely through other redictors. Prior experiences of ethnic discrimination increase and residence in public housing decreases the likelihood that Latino immigrants will move from their origin neighborhoods, while residing in metropolitan areas with large Latino populations leads to geographic moves into “less Anglo” census tracts.     

The Occupational Assimilation of Hispanic Immigrants in the U.S.: Evidence from Panel Data1

This study focuses on the occupational component of the labor market adjustment of Hispanic immigrants. The author asks whether Hispanic immigrants assimilate with natives and what factors influence occupational attainment. The findings suggest that years since migration narrow the socioeconomic gap between Hispanic immigrants, their U.S.‐born Hispanic counterparts, and non‐Hispanic whites. The level of human capital affects the rate of occupational mobility and determines whether convergence occurs in the groups’ socioeconomic occupational status. The occupational status of Hispanic immigrants with low human capital remains fairly stable and does not converge with that of non‐Hispanic whites. However, those with high human capital experience upward occupational mobility. In part, their occupational assimilation is driven by the acquisition of human capital among younger Hispanic immigrants.     

Becoming Overweight without Gaining a Pound: Weight Evaluations and the Social Integration of Mexicans in the United States

Mexican women gain weight with increasing duration in the United States. In the United States, body dissatisfaction tends to be associated with depression, disordered eating, and incongruent weight evaluations, particularly among white women and women of higher socioeconomic status. However, it remains unclear how being overweight and obesity are interpreted by Mexican women. Using comparable data of women aged 20–64 from both Mexico (the 2006 Encuesta Nacional de Salud y Nutricion; N = 17,012) and the United States (the 1999–2009 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys; N = 8,487), we compare weight status evaluations among Mexican nationals, Mexican immigrants, US‐born Mexicans, US‐born non‐Hispanic whites, and US‐born non‐Hispanic blacks. Logistic regression analyses, which control for demographic and socioeconomic variables and measured body mass index and adjust for the likelihood of migration for Mexican nationals, indicate that the tendency to self‐evaluate as overweight among Mexicans converges with levels among non‐Hispanic whites and diverges from blacks over time in the United States. Overall, the results suggest a US integration process in which Mexican‐American women's less critical self‐evaluations originate in Mexico but fade with time in the United States as they gradually adopt US white norms for thinner body sizes. These results are discussed in light of prior research about social comparison and negative health assimilation.     

Measures of Assimilation in the Marriage Market: Mexican Americans 1970–1990

In 1965 the United States rewrote its immigration laws, and immigration increased sharply as a result. The immigrants and the children of immigrants from the post‐1965 period are slowly becoming more influential in U.S. life; the largest of these groups are the Mexican immigrants and the Mexican Americans. The rapid growth of Hispanic and Asian populations in the United States has led to a renewed interest in the question of assimilation; that is, will the new groups assimilate, and if so how long will it take? Will they become part of White America? Will some groups assimilate into the Black‐dominated urban underclass (a process Portes called segmented assimilation)? Will some groups remain permanently separate and socially isolated? In this article, I examine the behavior of Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants in the U.S. marriage market, using census data from 1970, 1980, and 1990. The findings are that Mexican Americans are assimilating with non‐Hispanic Whites over time, and the evidence tends to reject the segmented assimilation hypothesis. The interplay between intermarriage and endogamy is studied with log linear models; some variations by geography and U.S. nativity are noted.     

Marriage‐Market Constraints and Mate‐Selection Behavior: Racial,Ethnic, and Gender Differences in Intermarriage

Despite theoretical consensus that marriage markets constrain mate‐selection behavior, few studies directly evaluate how local marriage‐market conditions influence intermarriage patterns. Using data from the American Community Survey, the authors examine what aspects of marriage markets influence mate selection, assess whether the associations between marriage‐market conditions and intermarriage are uniform by gender and across pan‐ethnic groups, and investigate the extent to which marriage‐market conditions account for group differences in intermarriage patterns. Relative group size is the most salient and consistent determinant of intermarriage patterns across pan‐ethnic groups and by gender. Marriage‐market constraints typically explain a larger share of pan‐ethnic differences in intermarriage rates than individual traits, suggesting that scarcity of co‐ethnic partners is a key reason behind decisions to intermarry. When faced with market constraints, men are more willing or more successful than women in crossing racial and ethnic boundaries in marriage.     

Intergenerational Mobility of the Mexican‐Origin Population in California and Texas Relative to a Changing Regional Mainstream

We combine two approaches to gauge the achievements of the Mexican‐origin second generation: one the intergenerational progress between immigrant parents and children, the other the gap between the second generation and non‐Latino whites. We measure advancement of the Mexican‐origin second generation using a suite of census‐derived outcomes applied to immigrant parents in 1980 and grown children in 2005, as observed in California and Texas. Patterns of second‐generation upward mobility are similar in the two states, with important differences across outcome indicators. Assessments are less favorable for men than women, especially in Texas. We compare Mexican‐Americans to a non‐Latino white reference group, as do most assimilation studies. However, we separate the reference group into those born in the same state as the second generation and those who have migrated in. We find that selective in‐migration of more highly‐educated whites has raised the bar on some, not all, measures of attainment. This poses a challenge to studies of assimilation that do not compare grown‐children to their fellow natives of a state. Our model of greater temporal and regional specificity has broad applicability to studies guided by all theories of immigrant assimilation, integration and advancement.     

INTERMARRIAGE AND THE LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES OF ASIAN WOMEN

The impact of intermarriage with natives, on labor market outcomes of immigrants, is not homogeneous across ethnic groups. Wages of Asian women are compared with non‐Asians. Both ordinary least squares and instrumental variables estimates of the effects of intermarriage on the wages of Asian women are negative and significant. Non‐Asian women earn a wage premium that becomes insignificant when controls for selection into marriage are introduced. One possible explanation for the intermarriage penalty for Asians is an income effect of having a high‐earning native husband. Intermarriage penalties rise with husband's education. Assimilation patterns of intermarried Asians indicate that they have lower initial wages, market hours, and employment, but exhibit faster rates of growth over their years of stay. The results are robust across Asian subgroups and husband's ethnicity. (JEL J16, J12, J31, J61)     

Hispanic Assimilation and Fertility in New U.S. Destinations

This paper evaluates comparative patterns of fertility in new Hispanic destinations and established gateways using pooled cross‐sectional data from the 2005–2009 microdata files of the American Community Survey. Changing Hispanic fertility provides a useful indicator of cultural incorporation. Analyses show that high fertility among Hispanics has been driven in part by the Mexican origin and other new immigrant populations (e.g., non‐citizens, those with poor English language skills, etc.). However, high fertility rates among Hispanics cannot be explained entirely by sociodemographical characteristics that place them at higher risk of fertility. For 2005–2009, Hispanic fertility rates were 48 percent higher than fertility among whites; they were roughly 25 percent higher after accounting for differences in key social characteristics, such as age, nativity, country of origin, and education. Contrary to most previous findings of spatial assimilation among in‐migrants, fertility rates among Hispanics in new destinations exceeded fertility in established gateways by 18 percent. In the multivariate analyses, Hispanics in new destinations were roughly 10 percent more likely to have had a child in the past year than those living in established gateways. Results are consistent with subcultural explanations of Hispanic fertility and raise new questions about the spatial patterning of assimilation and the formation of ethnic enclaves outside traditional settlement areas.     

Sundown Town to “Little Mexico”: Old‐timers and Newcomers in an American Small Town*

Abstract For more than a century, communities across the United States legally employed strategies to create and maintain racial divides. One particularly widespread and effective practice was that of “sundown towns,” which signaled to African Americans and others that they were not welcome within the city limits after dark. Though nearly 1,000 small towns, larger communities, and suburbs across the country may have engaged in these practices, until recently there has been little scholarship on the topic. Drawing from qualitative and quantitative sources, this article presents a case study of a midwestern rural community with a sundown history. Since 1990 large numbers of Mexican migrants have arrived there to work at the local meat‐processing plant, earning the town the nickname “Little Mexico.” The study identifies a substantial decline in Hispanic‐white residential segregation in the community between 1990 and 2000. We consider possible explanations for the increased spatial integration of Latino and white residents, including local housing characteristics and the weak enforcement of preexisting housing policies. We also describe the racialized history of this former sundown town and whether, paradoxically, its history of excluding nonwhites may have played a role in the spatial configurations of Latinos and non‐Hispanic whites in 2000. Scholars investigating the contemporary processes of Latino population growth in “new” destinations, both in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, may want to explore the importance of sociohistorical considerations, particularly localities' racialized historical contexts before the arrival of Mexican and other Latino immigrants.     

Intergenerational Assimilation by Intermarriage: Hispanic and Asian Immigrants

Using multigenerational data, intermarriage rates were examined among non-White, non-European immigrants to test two competing assimilation theories: classic assimilation theory and segmented assimilation theory. Later generations of Asian and Hispanic immigrants were more likely to outmarry than their first-generation relatives, an outcome predicted by both theories. High achieving Asians were not more likely to engage in outmarriage, whereas educational achievement was positively correlated with outmarriage rates among Hispanics. Classic assimilation theory predicts outmarriage only after structural assimilation is achieved; therefore, this study provided more evidence to support segmented assimilation theory. However, low socioeconomic status Hispanics and Asians were not more likely to outmarry non-Whites, as segmented assimilation theory would suggest.     

Explaining the Mexican‐American Health Paradox Using Selectivity Effects

While typically socioeconomically disadvantaged, Mexican migrants in the United States tend to have better health outcomes than non‐Hispanic whites. This phenomenon is known as the “Hispanic health paradox.” Using data from Mexico and the United States, we examine several health outcomes for non‐Hispanic whites and Mexicans in the United States and in Mexico and employ Blinder–Oaxaca decompositions to help explain the paradox. We find evidence that selectivity is playing a significant role in the relatively healthy status of Mexican migrants in the United States. More importantly, there is evidence that health selectivity is a complex process and its effects typically do not work the same way for different health conditions and across genders. We also find evidence that some of migrants' health advantages are lost as they spend more time in the United States.     

Religion,Marriage Markets,and Assortative Mating in the United States

As interfaith marriage has become more common, religion is thought to be less important for sorting partners. Nevertheless, prior studies on religious assortative mating use samples of prevailing marriages, which miss how local marriage markets shape both partner selection and marriage timing. Drawing on search theory and data from 8,699 young adults (ages 18–31 years) in the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997, the author examined the association between the concentration of coreligionists in local marriage markets and marriage timing and partner selection using event history methods. Religious concentration is associated with higher odds of transitioning to marriage and religious homogamy (conditional on marriage) for women and men at older ages (24–31 years) but not at younger ages (18–23 years). The association was also stronger for non‐Hispanic Whites when compared with other racial and ethnic groups. The findings indicate that religion remains relevant in sorting partners for many young adults in today's marriage market.     

Closing the Wealth Gap: A Review of Racial and Ethnic Inequalities in Homeownership

Homeownership plays an important role in the socioeconomic well‐being of Americans. Despite recent major losses in wealth due to the subprime market crash, home equity remains the largest source of wealth for the average American family. A marker of class status, owning one's home provides access to neighborhoods with the best schools, quality public services, and lowest crime. This article demonstrates that minorities have not had the same access to homeownership that Whites have, and this contributes to continuing socioeconomic disparities between Whites and minorities. This article explores the homeownership experience of Blacks – including African‐Americans, Caribbeans, and Africans – Hispanics, and Asians in the United States relative to non‐Hispanic Whites. Minorities rely heavily on homeownership and home equity as the key component of their wealth and remain less likely than Whites to hold alternative forms of investment such as stocks. The role that homeownership plays in perpetuating intergenerational wealth disparities between Whites and minorities is discussed as are challenges to minority homeownership such as the pervasiveness of risky mortgage products. Exploring the racial gap in homeownership is fundamental to understanding racial inequalities and formulating strategies and policies to help close such disparities. This article concludes with suggestions for future research.     

PROSPERITY,IMMIGRATION, AND NEIGHBORHOOD CHANGE IN SILICON VALLEY: 1990–2000

This article uses panel data collected at the block group level from the 1990 and 2000 U.S. Census to explore neighborhood change in the Silicon Valley region of Northern California. This was a period of rapid economic expansion and displacement of the white majority by immigrants of Asian and Hispanic descent. The argument that economic prosperity promotes ethnic group assimilation is confronted by mixed findings that ethnic residential segregation intensified in Silicon Valley during the 1990s, regardless of the income level of neighborhoods, and that some second generation immigrants have begun to assimilate residentially. Results support the argument that more recent immigrants, regardless of education, are likely to reside in areas populated by members of their ethnic group. In addition, upward mobility does not necessarily mean ethnic minorities will leave ethnic neighborhoods and desegregate the larger metropolitan area, which also creates the potential for proliferation of more affluent ethnic neighborhoods.