Integration of Ethnic Minorities: Do They Divorce as Natives Do?

Arbeitspapier

We investigate the divorce patterns among non‐Western immigrants and natives in Denmark. We focus on marriages entered on or after arrival to Denmark and analyze whether inter‐ethnic marriages result in higher divorce rates and whether divorce behavior differs between first- and second‐generation immigrants and native couples. We show that inter‐ethnic couples (one native, one immigrant) in general are more likely to divorce than native couples (two natives), while co-ethnic couples (two immigrants) are less likely to divorce, when controlling for differences in socioeconomic characteristics. In particular, co‐ethnic couples composed of a first‐ and second‐generation immigrant are less likely to divorce, while the divorce probability is the highest among inter‐ethnic couples composed of a native woman and a first-generation immigrant man. The analyses are based on register information from Statistics Denmark for the years 1990–2014.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 9727

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse ; Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination ; Household Production and Intrahousehold Allocation
• Subject: inter‐ and co‐ethnic marriage and divorce

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Schultz-Nielsen, Marie Louise ; Bonke, Jens
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2016

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/141486
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET