According to data from the 2010 round of population censuses in Spain and the United States, roughly 10 percent of young couples (aged 30–39) involve a native and a foreign-born partner. However, the macro-level characteristics of these couples have rarely been researched and to date, most studies on cross-national couples in high-income Western countries have focused on the migrant’s perspective (Qian, Glick, and Batson 2012, Kulu and Hannemann 2018). In a recently published paper, we shift attention to the natives (Esteve, Elwert and Batyra 2023). We examine differences in union patterns of native women and men in cross-national unions. In a context of profound transformation of gender norms and roles in high-income countries, we aim to stimulate research on the gender dynamics that shape interactions of native populations with foreign-born individuals in an increasingly global world (van de Putte et al. 2009, Esteve, Garcia-Roman and Permanyer 2012).

Gender differences in country of birth, age, and education 

We use samples from the International Integrated Public Use Microdata Series and focus on cross-national couples formed by women and men aged 30-39. We compute the age gap between spouses and dichotomize education according to whether each partner has tertiary education or not. 

Finally, we analyze gender asymmetry in cross-national couples as follows: for each country of birth of the international partner, if there are at least 50 unions of this type (otherwise we drop all observations), we calculate the share of those where the native is the man. A share of 0.5 indicates that native men and native women are equally likely to partner with immigrants from a given country. To systematize the gender patterns that might exist in relation to these unions, we classify countries based on their level in the human development index (HDI). For each dyad, we compute the HDI gap between the native country (i.e., the United States or Spain) and the country of birth of the international partner. 

Figure 1 shows the relationship between gender asymmetry in cross-national couples and the HDI gap, separately for Spain and the United States. Although the origins of international partners differ across the two countries, the results for the two nations suggest a similar pattern. Cross-national couples have very distinct gender profiles, with native men and native women partnering with immigrants from countries at very different levels of development. In both countries, gender asymmetry in cross-national couples increases with the HDI gap. 

This means that unions between a native and a foreigner from a less developed country (HDI gap above zero) are formed predominantly by native men, as opposed to native women. For example, see the case of the Philippines: in both Spain and the United States, more than 80 percent of mixed unions with individuals from the Philippines involve a native man and less than 20 percent a native woman. Conversely, women tend to be overrepresented in unions where a spouse is from a country with a similar or a higher level of development (HDI gap around or below zero). This pattern is clearly visible for unions of natives with immigrants from Western Europe such as Belgium, Germany, or the United Kingdom. For example, 60 percent of unions with Belgians in Spain involve Spanish women and only 40% involve Spanish men. 

With reference to Spain, Figure 2 provides further evidence about gender asymmetries in cross-national unions according to age and education. Native men in cross-national unions (top panels) tend to partner with younger women (spousal age gaps > 0) and the difference tends to increase sharply with HDI gap. This pattern reverses in the case of native women (bottom panels), for whom the spousal age gap tends to decrease and become negative with an increasing HDI gap (Figure 2, left panels). Similar patterns are found for the United States (not shown here). 

Despite stark asymmetries in age between spouses in cross-national couples and between unions of native women and native men, the right panels of Figure 2 show that educational profiles are rather similar across genders. There is no clear link between educational attainment of natives in cross-national unions and HDI, although in many dyads, natives tend to be have an above-average educational level. This pattern is even more visible in the United States (not shown here). 

Conclusion

We find distinct cross-national marriage patterns between native men and native women. Native men who partner with immigrant women from less developed backgrounds form unions with rather traditional patterns of spousal age differences, especially when the HDI gap is large.

At the same time, some native women might be challenging this pattern by forming unions with younger men from countries with a lower development level. 

References

Esteve A., A. Elwert, E. Batyra. 2023. Gender Asymmetries in Cross-National Couples. Population and Development Review.

Esteve A., J. Garcia-Roman, I. Permanyer. 2012. The Gender-Gap Reversal in Education and Its Effect on Union Formation: The End of Hypergamy? Population and Development Review 38(3): 535–546.

Kulu H., T. Hannemann. 2018. Mixed Marriage among Immigrants and Their Descendants in the United Kingdom: Analysis of Longitudinal Data with Missing Information. Population Studies 73(2), 1–18. 

Qian Z., J.E. Glick, C.D. Batson. 2012. Crossing Boundaries: Nativity, Ethnicity, andMate Selection. Demography 49(2): 651–675.

Van de Putte B., F. van Poppel, S. Vanassche, M. Sanchez, S. Jidkova, M. Eeckhaut, M. Oris, K. Matthijs. 2009. The Rise of Age Homogamy in 19th Century Western Europe. Journal of Marriage and Family 71(5): 1234–1253.

The post Gender asymmetries in mixed unions appeared first on N-IUSSP.

Immigrant-native intermarriage is often studied in the context of immigrant integration (see, for example, Kulu & Hannemann 2020) and is regularly regarded as the final step in the assimilation process (Gordon 1964). In a recent study on Sweden (Elwert 2019), I analyse the characteristics of natives who marry immigrants as well as assortative mating patterns in the marriages of Swedes with immigrants.¹ Assortative mating refers to the characteristics of both partners in the unions, such as level of education, income, or age. Focusing on the native majority instead of immigrants gives us a better understanding of societal openness towards minorities in the majority’s marriage market. Here, I investigate whether the Swedes who are in union with “marriage migrants” differ from those who are in union with other immigrants.

Marriage migration describes the case of people who marry with the purpose of migration: their marriage takes place before or at around the same time as the act of migration. Marriage migration is an indication of a globalization of marriage markets, due for instance to international tourism and the Internet (Niedomysl et al. 2010), and gives the majority population the opportunity to “cast a wider net” for dating and marriage. For prospective immigrants, marriage migration can be seen as a path to obtaining a residence permit. Individuals from non-EU countries can obtain a residence permit in Sweden by being married or cohabiting with someone who already lives in Sweden (Swedish Migration Agency 2020).

Immigrant-native intermarriage in Sweden

Intermarriage between immigrants and natives has increased in most European countries in past decades and is closely related to the proportion of immigrants in the country (Lanzieri 2012). Currently, almost 19 percent of Sweden’s population is foreign-born, which is higher than in the U.S., the U.K. or Germany (OECD 2020). Intermarriage rates in Sweden have risen continuously since the 1970s, and the increase has been somewhat steeper for men than for women. Between 1990 and 2009, the share of immigrant-native marriages increased from 8 to 13 percent for men, but only from 7 to 9 percent for women (Elwert 2018). Previous studies have shown that new intermarriage patterns have emerged alongside the patterns of frequent marriage between Swedes and immigrants of Nordic countries. Out of every 1,000 unmarried men aged 18 and above in 2008, around six married an EU partner while 11 married a wife from outside the EU; the corresponding number for the latter in 1991 was about three (Haandrikman 2014).

About 80 percent of immigrant-native unions in Sweden occur between natives and immigrants already resident in the country; the remaining 20 percent or so are with marriage migrants (Elwert 2019).²

I contrast the two cases by analysing all the immigrant-native marriages in Sweden (incl. non-marital cohabitations with common children) that took place from 1991 to 2009.³

Findings

The results show that Swedish men who are older, have lower socio-economic status, are divorced or have children from previous relationships have higher odds of being in a union with a marriage migrant than with a resident migrant. Also, Swedish women with lower socio-economic status have higher odds than women with high socio-economic status of being in a native-marriage migrant union. The age gap between partners is also strongly associated with unions with marriage migrants for both men and women: unions with considerably younger partners (seven years or more) are relatively more frequent when marriage migrants are involved. Conversely, educational differences do not seem to play a significant role on the marriage market in Sweden.

Figure 1 compares marriage migrants to resident immigrants who are in a union with a native. It displays the patterns of native-marriage migrant unions relative to native-resident migrant unions, showing that even when accounting for background factors (such as the age and education of partners, a complete list is in the figure note), unions where the immigrant partner is seven or more years younger are relatively more likely when marriage migrants are involved. However, this is not the case for all origins: the phenomenon emerges in particular with partners from central and eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia or Africa. The immigrant groups among whom unions with large age gaps are more common are also those with relatively low status in the natives’ marriage market (Osanami Törngren 2016; Potârcă & Mills 2015), and are seen as “less attractive”.

The findings of this study suggest that intermarriages involve an exchange of age and ethnic status, particularly of age and prospective residence permit. This means that immigrants belonging to immigrant groups perceived as less attractive by majority natives become more attractive if they have something to offer in exchange: age, notably.

This relationship has been found both for men and women (see Figure 2), which indicates that both value younger age in the marriage market (and not, for example, men preferring younger partners and women preferring more educated partners). This finding is yet another indication of the high level of gender equality in Sweden.

This study illustrates that the boundaries between immigrants and majority natives are manifested not only by the exclusion of immigrants of certain ethnicities from the pool of marriage partners but also by their inclusion if they have something to offer in return. In the Swedish case, this is likely to be age.

References

Elwert, A. (2018). Will you intermarry me? Determinants and consequences of immigrant-native intermarriage in contemporary Nordic settings. Lund: Lund University, Media-Tryck.

Elwert, A (2019). Opposites Attract: Assortative Mating and Immigrant–Native Intermarriage in Contemporary Sweden. European Journal of Population.

Gordon, M. M. (1964). Assimilation in American life: The role of race, religion, and national origins (6th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

Haandrikman, K. (2014). Binational marriages in Sweden: Is there an EU effect? Population, Space and Place, 20(2), 177–199.

Kulu, H. & Hannemann, T. (2020). Do birds of a feather really flock together? N-IUSSP.

Lanzieri, G. (2012). Mixed marriages in Europe, 1990–2010. In D.-S. Kim (Ed.), Cross-border marriage: Global trends and diversity (pp. 81–121). Seoul: Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA).

Niedomysl, T., Östh, J., & van Ham, M. (2010). The globalisation of marriage fields: The Swedish case. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 36(7), 1119–1138

OECD (2020). Foreign-born population (indicator). doi: 10.1787/5a368e1b-en (Accessed on 19 May 2020)

Osanami Törngren, S. (2016). Attitudes toward interracial marriages and the role of interracial

contacts in Sweden. Ethnicities, 16(4), 568–588.

Potârcă, G., & Mills, M. (2015). Racial preferences in online dating across European countries. European Sociological Review, 31(3), 326–341

Swedish Migration Agency (2020). Resi­dence permit to move to a spouse, regis­tered partner or coha­bi­ting partner in Sweden, accessed May 19, 2020.

Footnotes

¹ The groups under study are Swedish-born individuals with two Swedish-born parents and foreign-born individuals, i.e. immigrants. Native-born individuals with foreign-born parents are excluded. Citizenship is not observed in this data extract.

² Reason for residence permit cannot be observed in the data extract. To support the claim that residence permit is an important vehicle for these marriages, I compare the number of marriage migrants identified in the data extract with the number of adult immigrants who were granted family-related residence permits for the most common marriage-migrant countries. This comparison shows that the number of marriage migrants identified in the data accounts for 20 to 50 percent of all family-related residence permits, not all of which were granted to immigrants having married Swedish majority partners. A large proportion of immigrants with family-related permits are in unions with immigrants or second-generation immigrants.

³ Cohabiting unions without common children cannot be identified in this data extract.

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