Divorce Rate Between Asian Americans and African Americans Jaclyn Koppisch Katie Kang Gloria Joung Group 16: The Weimeraners FCST

Introduction  Marriage and Divorce  (Data are for the U.S.)  Number of marriages: 2,118,000  Marriage rate: 6.8 per 1,000 total population  Divorce rate: 3.6 per 1,000 population (44 reporting States and D.C.)  Sources: National Marriage and Divorce Rate Trends (data shown are provisional 2011)National Marriage and Divorce Rate Trends

Hypothesis  We expect that African Americans will have a higher rate of divorce than Asians in the future. However, we hypothesize that the divorce rate between Asians will be higher than it has been in the past.  We propose this because:  African Americans have constantly had higher divorce rates than Asians in many U.S. studied.  Asian Americans are slowly shedding negative views of divorce, which used to be a cultural taboo.

Introduction/Hypothesis  Outcome Variable : Divorce Rate  Demographic Variable : Race (Asians and African Americans)  Years studied : 1996, 2001, 2009  Race is a demographic characteristic that could be related to divorce rates in the U.S.

Data for 1996  The total divorce rates of 1996 for 15 years of age and older (ever divorced)  (percent's)  Asian American-  Women  Men- 9.2  Total  African Americans-  Women  Men  Total- 39.1

Data for 2001  The total divorce rates of 2001 for 15 years of age and older (ever divorced)  (percent’s)  Asian American-  Women  Men- 8.8  Total  African Americans-  Women  Men  Total- 38.9

Data for 2009  The total divorce rates of 2009 for 15 years of age and older (ever divorced)  (percent’s)  Asian American-  Women  Men- 8.2  Total  African Americans-  Women  Men  Total- 36.9

Chart Divorces in Percent's

Chart for all Races Divorces in percent’s

Results  Divorce rate changed over time:  Asian Americans: From 1996 to 2009, the divorce rate has been pretty steady and did not change drastically (20.6 to 19.3).  Still a lower rate then African Americans  African Americans From 1996 to 2009, the divorce rate went down, but not a drastic change (39.1 to 36.9).  Still a higher rate of divorce than Asian Americans.  Overall: The divorce rate for African Americans is almost twice as much as Asian Americans

Discussion  Our hypothesis was supported by the data from the African American marriage in the 20 th century and Asian-American divorce rate up, census shows.  The divorce rate for Asian Americans are slowly increasing overall African Americans divorce rate is twice as much.  We conclude that in the future that Asian Americans will most likely increase in divorce rates because Asian Americans are slowly shedding negative views of divorce.  Wei Li, a professor of Asian-Pacific American Studies at Arizona State University said, that the changes show that more Asians may be moving toward American norms on divorce and marriage,

References African Americans and Black Community. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2013, from african-americans-and- black-community/index.aspx Asian and Pacific Islanders. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2013, from asian-and-pacific-islanders/index.aspx#marriage Pinderhughes, E. B. (2002). African American marriage in the 20th century. Family Process, 41(2), Retrieved from Marital History for People 15 Years and Older. (n.d.). Retrieved from Marital History for People 15 Years and Older. (n.d.). Retrieved from

References Marital History for People 15 Years and Over. (n.d.). Retrieved from Number, Timing, and Duration of Marriages and Divorces: Detailed Tables. n.d.). Retrieved from Press, A. (2003, May 29). Marital History for People 15 Years and Over, by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2013, from tab01.pdf Asian-american divorce rate up, census shows. Honolulu Star - Bulletin. Retrieved from