Is there an Intermarriage Premium for Male Immigrants? Exogamy and Earnings in Sweden 1990–2009

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.

Is it Better to Intermarry? Immigration Background of Married Couples and Suicide Risk Among Native-Born and Migrant Persons in Sweden

Marriage is protective against suicide across most populations, including for persons of different ethnicities and immigrant backgrounds. However, the well-being benefits of marriage are contingent upon marital characteristics-such as conflict and quality-that may vary across spousal dyads with different immigration backgrounds. Leveraging Swedish register data, we compare suicide mortality among married persons on the basis of their and their spouse's immigration backgrounds. We find that relative to those in a native Swede-Swede union, Swedish men married to female immigrants and immigrant women married to native men are at higher risk of death by suicide, while immigrants of both genders who are married to someone from their birth country have a lower risk of suicide mortality. The findings support hypotheses about the strains that may be encountered by those who intermarry, as well as the potential selection of individuals into inter- and intra-ethnic marriages.

Immigrants’ Life Satisfaction in Intermarriages with Natives: A Family Life Course Perspective

What role do intermarriages (i.e., interethnic marriages) play in immigrants’ life satisfaction? Only a few studies have addressed this question. While intermarriages are associated with upward mobility for immigrants, they are more likely to get divorced than intramarriages (i.e., marriages among co-ethnics), which suggests either a positive or negative association between intermarriage and immigrants’ life satisfaction. Drawing on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (1984–2018), we estimate three-level hybrid models to investigate immigrants’ life satisfaction in inter- compared to intramarriages across the family life course. After controlling for socioeconomic characteristics, we find that intermarried immigrants had lower life satisfaction, especially after the birth of their first child. This result suggests that the socialization of children might be a more contentious issue in intermarriages. Overall, these findings illustrate that marriage types and the life course should be considered in future studies on immigrants’ life satisfaction and integration.

Mental health by native–immigrant intermarriage in Sweden: a register-based retrospective cohort study

Background

Native–immigrant intermarriage is often regarded as a proxy for integration, given that intermarried immigrants are more socioeconomically and culturally similar to natives than intramarried immigrants. This study aimed to assess whether integration affects mental health and care-seeking behaviours, examining prescription hazards for psychotropic medications by native–immigrant marital composition in Sweden.

Methods

Total population register data were used to identify first-time married couples residing in Sweden between 31 December 2005 and 31 December 2016. Index persons were distinguished by gender and partners’ origin (native vs. immigrant), as well as by immigrants’ regions of origin, with intramarried natives as references. Using Cox regression, hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated for antidepressant and anxiolytic prescriptions and adjusted for socioeconomic factors, presence of children and length and quality of marriage.

Results

Intramarried immigrant women had higher psychotropic prescription hazards than intramarried native references (HR 1.11, 95% CI 1.10–1.12), whereas intermarried immigrant women had equal hazards. Immigrant women’s hazards were lower than native references after adjustment. Intramarried immigrant men had the greatest prescription hazards (HR 1.33, 95% CI 1.32–1.34), and intermarried immigrant men slightly higher hazards (HR 1.11, 95% CI 1.10–1.13), than intramarried natives. All were partly attenuated after adjustment. Intermarriage hazards increased by similarities in regions of origin, especially among men.

Conclusions

Integration indicated by intermarriage appears to be protective for the mental health of immigrants, especially for immigrant men. Future research should empirically disentangle the social, cultural and socioeconomic mechanisms underlying these health differences.

Crossing Social Boundaries in an Immigration Context: Exogamy and Gendered Employment Patterns in Unions in Germany

We study gendered employment patterns in unions by focusing on the role of exogamy for non-migrants in Germany. Classical assimilation theory has studied such mixed migrant-non-migrant unions mainly with a focus on the members of ethnic minorities. However, this perspective neglects the question of the social consequences of exogamy for the members of the majority group. We aim to fill this knowledge gap by investigating the association of being in a mixed union and the employment patterns of the couple. Our theoretical considerations and working hypotheses are derived from modernization theories, welfare state and labor market theories, gender studies, and social boundary-crossing frameworks. Drawing on the scientific use file of the German Microcensus of 2013, our sample consists of 44,499 non-migrant men (about 7% of whom are in a mixed union with a migrant) and 43,722 non-migrant women (about 5% of whom are in a mixed union). We estimate multinomial logistic regression models. We conclude that the persistent disadvantage for immigrants on the labor market in Germany shapes the gendered employment patterns of their unions, which, in turn, affect the members of the majority population. For non-migrant men, exogamy is associated with a re-traditionalization of employment patterns, whereby a man is more likely to be the main earner if he is in an exogamous union than if he is in an endogamous union. For non-migrant women, by contrast, we find evidence of a role reversal in exogamous unions, whereby the woman is more likely to be the main earner.

Climate Change, Migration, and Civil Strife

Purpose of Review

In this article, we examine the intersection of human migration and climate change. Growing evidence that changing environmental and climate conditions are triggers for displacement, whether voluntary or forced, adds a powerful argument for profound anticipatory engagement.

Recent Findings

Climate change is expected to displace vast populations from rural to urban areas, and when life in the urban centers becomes untenable, many will continue their onward migration elsewhere (Wennersten and Robbins 2017; Rigaud et al. 2018). It is now accepted that the changing climate will be a threat multiplier, will exacerbate the need or decision to migrate, and will disproportionately affect large already vulnerable sections of humanity. Worst-case scenario models that assume business-as-usual approaches to climate change predict that nearly one-third of the global population will live in extremely hot (uninhabitable) climates, currently found in less than 1% of the earth’s surface mainly in the Sahara.

Summary

We find that the post–World War II regime designed to receive European migrants has failed to address population movement in the latter half of the twentieth century fueled by economic want, globalization, opening (and then closing) borders, civil strife, and war. Key stakeholders are in favor of using existing instruments to support a series of local, regional, and international arrangements to protect environmental migrants, most of whom will not cross international borders. The proposal for a dedicated UN agency and a new Convention has largely come from academia and NGOs. Migration is now recognized not only as a consequence of instability but as an adaptation strategy to the changing climate. Migration must be anticipated as a certainty, and thereby planned for and supported.

The Intergenerational Effects of Intermarriage

This study closely examines long-term outcomes of intermarriage in Denmark in terms of children’s educational performance, studying grades from final examinations. The study uses rich register data, where families are linked across generations, and contributes to the migration literature by providing new insights into the human capital formation in inter-ethnic families. The outcomes of children of intermarriage are very much in line with the outcomes of children with two native-born Danish parents. Compared to second-generation immigrants, children of intermarriage perform substantially better, and these differences remain even when school and family-level confounders are taken into account. Moreover, this paper explores the heterogeneous character of the 2.5 generation in Denmark and studies the importance of parental country of origin. Parental country of origin is of significance for the educational performance of children from intermarriage in Denmark, as the performance of children with a non-native parent originating from countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America is closer to that of second-generation immigrants, rather than natives. This association remains (for certain groups) when controlling for unobserved heterogeneity at the school and family level.

Time and Generation: Parents' Integration and Children's School Performance in Sweden, 1989-2011

A central element of assimilation theory is that increasing time and number of previous immigrant generations in a host country leaves immigrants and their children more integrated and capable of navigating the host society. However, the underperformance of some immigrant groups in Sweden calls into question this relationship. Additionally, many studies regard intermarriage as an outcome of immigrant integration and rarely investigate whether integration continues after intermarriage. Using population level data from the Swedish interdisciplinary panel on 22 cohorts of ninth-grade students born between 1973 and 1995, we examine the effect of parents' time in Sweden on their children's grade point average using family fixed effects. Additionally, we investigate whether this relationship differs between "2.0" and "2.5" generation children. We find, generally, that parents' time in Sweden increases their children's educational performance, though some variation by parents' region of origin exists. This supports the idea that integration experiences in immigrant families can be transmitted across generations. Further, this generally holds for both the 2.0 and 2.5 generation children. This relationship among the 2.5 generation is notable as previous studies using a family-based approach looking at the intergenerational transmission of integration have largely focused on the children of two foreign-born parents.