Hispanic Intermarriage: Assimilation and Marriage among U.S. Immigrants

J. Brian Brown, Ohio State University
Daniel T. Lichter, Ohio State University

Foreign-born Hispanic intermarriage with native populations is an important indicator of immigrants’ social and economic integration into U.S. society. Unlike earlier waves of European immigration, Hispanic immigrants face barriers to integration into U.S. society, partly due to their low socioeconomic status as well as continuous flows of Hispanic immigration into this country. We evaluate the hypothesis that marital assimilation of Hispanic immigrants is a function of preexisting patterns of social and economic assimilation. Specifically, we: (1) examine patterns of intermarriage between foreign-born Hispanics and native-born Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites between 1990 and 2000, (2), identify barriers to Hispanic intermarriage in major U.S. metropolitan areas, and (3) reveal how these barriers changed between 1990 and 2000. Our research provides insights into patterns of intermarriage among non-native Hispanics and identifies various marriage market opportunities and constraints that affect the pace of marital assimilation.