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Opposites Attract : Assortative Mating and Immigrant–Native Intermarriage in Contemporary Sweden

Elwert, Annika LU (2020) In European Journal of Population 36(4). p.675-709
Abstract

This paper studies how immigrant–native intermarriages in Sweden are associated with individual characteristics of native men and women and patterns of assortative mating. Patterns of educational- and age-assortative mating that are similar to those found in native–native marriages may reflect openness to immigrant groups, whereas assortative mating patterns that indicate status considerations suggest that country of birth continues to serve as a boundary in the native marriage market. The study uses Swedish register data that cover the entire Swedish population for the period of 1991–2009. The results from binomial and multinomial logistic regressions show that low status of natives in terms of economic and demographic characteristics... (More)

This paper studies how immigrant–native intermarriages in Sweden are associated with individual characteristics of native men and women and patterns of assortative mating. Patterns of educational- and age-assortative mating that are similar to those found in native–native marriages may reflect openness to immigrant groups, whereas assortative mating patterns that indicate status considerations suggest that country of birth continues to serve as a boundary in the native marriage market. The study uses Swedish register data that cover the entire Swedish population for the period of 1991–2009. The results from binomial and multinomial logistic regressions show that low status of natives in terms of economic and demographic characteristics is associated with intermarriage and that intermarriages are characterized by educational and age heterogamy more than are native–native marriages. The findings indicate that immigrant women as well as immigrant men become more attractive marriage partners if they are considerably younger than their native spouses. This is particularly true for intermarriages with immigrants from certain regions of origin, such as wives from Asia and Africa and husbands from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Gender differences in the intermarriage patterns of native men and women are surprisingly small.

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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Age homogamy, Assortative mating, Intermarriage, Status exchange, Sweden
in
European Journal of Population
volume
36
issue
4
pages
35 pages
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:85076594593
  • pmid:32994758
ISSN
0168-6577
DOI
10.1007/s10680-019-09546-9
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
91e0bd9e-f539-4658-8538-adee408ecaa2
date added to LUP
2020-01-14 13:16:31
date last changed
2024-02-16 09:04:32
@article{91e0bd9e-f539-4658-8538-adee408ecaa2,
  abstract     = {{<p>This paper studies how immigrant–native intermarriages in Sweden are associated with individual characteristics of native men and women and patterns of assortative mating. Patterns of educational- and age-assortative mating that are similar to those found in native–native marriages may reflect openness to immigrant groups, whereas assortative mating patterns that indicate status considerations suggest that country of birth continues to serve as a boundary in the native marriage market. The study uses Swedish register data that cover the entire Swedish population for the period of 1991–2009. The results from binomial and multinomial logistic regressions show that low status of natives in terms of economic and demographic characteristics is associated with intermarriage and that intermarriages are characterized by educational and age heterogamy more than are native–native marriages. The findings indicate that immigrant women as well as immigrant men become more attractive marriage partners if they are considerably younger than their native spouses. This is particularly true for intermarriages with immigrants from certain regions of origin, such as wives from Asia and Africa and husbands from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Gender differences in the intermarriage patterns of native men and women are surprisingly small.</p>}},
  author       = {{Elwert, Annika}},
  issn         = {{0168-6577}},
  keywords     = {{Age homogamy; Assortative mating; Intermarriage; Status exchange; Sweden}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{675--709}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{European Journal of Population}},
  title        = {{Opposites Attract : Assortative Mating and Immigrant–Native Intermarriage in Contemporary Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10680-019-09546-9}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s10680-019-09546-9}},
  volume       = {{36}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}