Spatial Diffusion and Marital Assimilation of Mexicans in the United States, 1980-2011

• In Event: 130 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 06. Race, Ethnicity and Immigration

Abstract

Combining Decennial Census (1980-2000) and American Community Survey (2008-2011) data, this article documents Mexican generational and ethnic intermarriage patterns across 543 c-PUMAs and evaluates the impact of changes in structural conditions on changes in marital behavior. Descriptive findings point to a generational differentiation with 2nd+ generation Mexicans firmly on the path towards marital assimilation while 1st generation intermarriage rates declined. Moreover, we find strong variation in intermarriage across settlement areas with intermarriage rates generally being higher in new settlement areas. Multivariate analyses suggest that increases in the availability of co-ethnics and Spanish language retention over time deter intermarriage in traditional settlement areas. In re-emerging destination only increases in cultural retention seemed to matter. Finally, we test two competing hypotheses posited by the immigrant replenishment literature. Our results indicate that the impact of immigrant replenishment is moderate by cultural retention and by the degree of negative feelings towards Hispanics experienced in the local context.

Authors

• Christoph Spörlein, University of Cologne

• Ricardo Martinez-Schuldt, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

• Ted Mouw, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill