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Are mixed-ethnic unions more likely to dissolve than co-ethnic unions? New evidence from Britain

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vanHam_2012_EJP_Mixed_AM.pdf (460.1Kb)
Date
05/2012
Author
Feng, Zhiqiang
Boyle, Paul
van Ham, Maarten
Raab, Gillian M.
Keywords
Mixed-ethnic unions
Longitudinal study
Divorce
Convergence theory
Heterogamy effect
Unions mixtes
Étude longitudinale
Théorie de la convergence
Effet de l’hétérogamie
GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography
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Abstract
The increasing proportion of ethnic minorities in Britain has been paralleled by an increase in the occurrence of mixed-ethnic marriages between one White partner and an ethnic minority partner. Such marriages are thought to be at higher risk of divorce, but empirical studies so far have been inconclusive. This paper uses the Office for National Statistics longitudinal study for England and Wales to investigate whether mixed-ethnic unions are more likely to end in divorce than co-ethnic unions. We followed married couples in 1991-2001 and examined their risks of divorce. We found evidence that mixed-ethnic unions have a higher risk of dissolution than co-ethnic unions. However, after controlling for partners' characteristics, most importantly the younger ages of people in mixed-ethnic unions, the risk of divorce for mixed-ethnic unions was no longer elevated, but lay close to the higher risk found for the two constituent co-ethnic unions.
Citation
Feng , Z , Boyle , P , van Ham , M & Raab , G M 2012 , ' Are mixed-ethnic unions more likely to dissolve than co-ethnic unions? New evidence from Britain ' , European Journal of Population , vol. 28 , no. 2 , pp. 159-176 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-012-9259-0
Publication
European Journal of Population
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-012-9259-0
ISSN
0168-6577
Type
Journal article
Rights
© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10680-012-9259-0
Description
This research is funded by the ESRC under the Understanding Population Trends and Processes (UPTAP) programme (Award Ref: RES-163-25-0045)
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/6565

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