The Social Significance of Interracial Cohabitation: Inferences Based on Fertility Behavior

Migration, Partner Selection, and Fertility in Germany: How Many Children are Born in Mixed Unions?

For the German context, we investigate whether the number of children ever born differs between mixed unions (exogamous unions between natives and migrants or migrant descendants) and endogamous unions (unions among co-ethnics). Our theoretical considerations are derived from assimilation theories, which view exogamous unions as indicators of assimilation processes, and the framework on migrant fertility. The migrant (or descendant) partner in an exogamous union may adapt to the majority group, both partners may adapt to each other, or both partners may constitute a selected group in their fertility preferences. However, due to the higher likelihood of conflicts within the partnership and of separation, exogamy may disrupt family formation processes and depress couples' fertility. Drawing on data from the GSOEP (1984-2020), we estimate generalized Poisson regressions. The results reveal that the number of children ever born is higher in exogamous unions than in endogamous native couples. This general pattern largely persists across migrant generations and regions of origin, but we identify gender differences. While fertility in exogamous unions of native women/migrant (descendant) men is not statistically different from fertility in native/native couples, unions of migrant (descendant) women/native men have more children, especially when controlling for socio-demographic confounders. Our results demonstrate that in the German context, exogamy does not lead to fertility disruptions, and is not straightforwardly associated with assimilation to the fertility of the majority group. Instead, differences in gendered partner choice patterns and life-course transitions may influence the number of children exogamous couples have.

Are Interracial Couples at Higher Risk of Multiple Chronic Conditions? Evidence from a Nationally Representative Sample

Interracial relationships are becoming increasingly common in the United States, yet the physical health status of individuals in interracial relationships is not well understood. Using 18 years of pooled data from the National Health Interview Study (2001-2018) (N = 264, 891), we compared the odds of having multiple chronic conditions (MCC) among adults in interracial and same-race unions. We anticipate that individuals in interracial relationships may be at higher risk of MCC than individuals in same-race relationships due to increased exposure to stressors associated with crossing racial boundaries. Findings indicate that the implications of interracial relationships on MCC depended on the racial composition of the couple. We found that White-Black couples had higher odds of MCC than both White-White and Black-Black couples, but Asian-Black and Hispanic-Black couples did not differ from their same-race couple counterparts, indicating a pronounced and unique health disadvantage for White adults paired with Black adults. We also found that Asian-White and Hispanic-White couples had higher odds of MCC relative to their same-race counterparts. In addition, minority-minority couples generally did not differ from their same-race minority couple counterparts in terms of MCC. The results of the study provide new insights into how the racial composition of interracial unions impacts health and how a closer proximity to Whiteness may be a health risk for some minority groups.

Cohabiting Adult Children's Transfers to Parents in the United States

Objective

This brief report presents national estimates of transfers of time and money from cohabiting adult children (ages 18 to 65) to their parents (own and in-laws) to test whether cohabiting adults give differently from their counterparts.

Background

Previous U.S. studies use data collected in the late 1980s and mid-1990s, when cohabitation was an emerging family form; they find mixed results. Rising rates of cohabitation and an aging population of parents who may rely on transfers from adult children necessitate updated estimates that can help develop the theory of institutionalization of cohabitation.

Method

This study used the 2013 Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) Rosters and Transfers Module, a sample of U.S. households (N=6,340), and logistic and negative binomial models to estimate the likelihood of giving any time or any money to parents by the respondent's union status, the amounts given, and parent type (own, in-laws).

Results

Cohabitors were less likely to give time to their own parents than their never married counterparts, and gave fewer hours, but were more likely to give time and gave more hours than married adults. For financial transfers to own parents, cohabitors and married respondents gave similarly, but both were less likely to give any money than are single respondents. Cohabitators gave more hours to their in-laws than married respondents.

Conclusion

Cohabitors behave somewhere in-between marital "greedy institution" norms and broader norms of solidarity with parents. More work should be done to understand how union status affects transfers to parents.

Racial Pairings and Fertility: Do Interracial Couples Have Fewer Children?

OBJECTIVE

Our overall goal is largely descriptive-to compare recent fertility patterns between racially endogamous and exogamous couples in the United States. Evidence of lower fertility among exogamous or interracial couples arguably provides indirect evidence of social distance and cultural and economic integration.

BACKGROUND

The growth of interracial marriage and cohabitation has fueled the rise in biracial or mixed-race children. Fertility rates are uneven among racial and ethnic groups, seemingly rooted in stigma and cultural differences (e.g., fertility norms). Whether fertility is different among interracial couples is unclear: Fertility rates that largely conform to the population of racially endogamous White couples provide evidence of social integration whereas differential fertility may reveal gender dynamics in fertility decision-making, including power relationships that depend on the race of male and female partners.

METHOD

We pool data from the 2008 to 2017 American Community Survey to compare past-year fertility patterns among endogamously and interracially married and cohabiting couples.

RESULTS

Fertility is generally lower among racially exogamous than endogamous unions, especially among Asian American-White couples. Fertility among American Indian-White couples is much closer to patterns of White couples than of American Indian couples. Fertility among other interracial couples nevertheless varies by the race of male partners. That is, fertility of the Black male/White female and the Hispanic male/White female couples is similar to patterns found among endogamous Black and Hispanic couples, respectively. The White male/Black female and the White male/Hispanic female couples follow the fertility patterns of White couples.

CONCLUSION

In general, the fertility levels of interracial couples are intermediate between those of endogamous White couples and their endogamous Black, Hispanic, or American Indian counterparts, but vary significantly by the race-gender mix of partners.

The Racial Configuration of Parent Couples and Premature Birth: an Analysis of the Utah Population Database

In this paper, we analyze detailed maternal and paternal race information in a 25-year time series of birth record data to consider racial inequities in premature births experienced by women of color and women within interracial parent couples. We analyze birth outcomes within Utah, a historically racially homogeneous state experiencing growing racial diversity and interracial marriage over the past two decades. Our analyses consider disparities in preterm birth according to maternal race and the interracial status of couples for all birth certificate records within the Utah Population Database from 1989 to 2015 (N = 1,148,818). Our results, consistent with a dyadic perspective on minority stress, indicate that maternal race and interracial parent-couple status are each significantly associated with heightened risk of premature birth. The odds of preterm birth are significantly greater among all four racialized groups in the analyses (African Americans, Asians, Native Americans, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islanders) as compared to White women. Furthermore, we find that mothers in mixed-race parent couples with either a white or a black father experience a greater risk of preterm birth than mothers parenting with a father of the same race. Our results suggest that in order to capture the complete perspective on racial-ethnic disparities in adverse birth outcomes, outcomes pivotal for subsequent health outcomes over the life course, it is critical to address racism's toxic effects across multiple levels of lived experience-from the individual level, to the parent dyad, to the local community and beyond.