Migrants in interethnic partnerships: Between preferences and structural opportunities

Abstract

This paper explores the individual characteristics of migrants in interethnic partnerships living in Germany. Our analyses examine key characteristics extracted from the partner market theory and compare them among interethnic (migrant-native) and intraethnic (migrant-migrant) couples. This approach enables us to learn more about the role of cultural boundaries in the social integration processes of different migrant groups. We go beyond earlier research by focusing not on migrant-native contrasts but on variations within the migrant population, including a comparison of Turkish migrants and ethnic German resettlers, which are the two largest migrant groups in Germany; and by including religion, marital status, and spatial perspectives in our analyses. We also extend prior work by including non-marital partnerships. Our empirical analyses are based on migrant adults aged 14–48. In a first step, we present descriptive findings on the prevalence of interethnic partnerships in our sample. In a second step, we estimate the outcome variable (migrants in interethnic vs. intraethnic partnerships) using cross-sectional regression analyses. The models focus on compositional differences between immigrant groups concerning size and place of residence, education, migrant status, ethnicity, religiosity, sex, relationship status, and age. Our findings support the theoretical elaborations on interethnic partner markets, namely, that preferences and structural opportunities characterize migrants in interethnic partnerships.