1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Mixed-Ethnic Unions in England and Wales in the 1990s Zhiqiang Feng 1,2 Gillian Raab 1,2 Paul Boyle 1,2 Maarten van Ham 1 University of St Andrews 1 Longitudinal Studies Centre for Scotland 2

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Outline Introduction Data and methodology Results Conclusions

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Why study mixed-ethnic unions? Mixed-ethnic unions –Demonstrate break-down of ethnic barriers and are suggestive of degree of ethnic integration in a society –Numbers are small but increasing –Create new minority groups-mixed ethnic groups Geographical Segregation –Numerous studies have ignored mixing within households/families Government actively promotes integration of ethnic minorities

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Theories Assimilation –Most assimilated groups more likely to cross ethnic lines to out-partner Demography –Sex ratio –Relative size Social exchange –Lower status majority members partner higher status minority members Segregation –Reduce opportunity to meet potential partners

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Mixed ethnic unions (MEUs) in England and Wales Non white population increased from 5% in 1991 to 9% in 2001 Mixed ethnic unions are defined as couples who are either married or cohabiting Mixed ethnic unions increased from 1.2% in 1991 to 2.4% in 2001

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Existing Studies in Britain Data sources –Labour Force Surveys (Jones 1984, Coleman 1985, 2004) –The Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities (1994) (Muttarak 2003) –Census 1991 Household SARs (Berrington 1996, Model & Fisher 2002) ONS LS (Muttarak 2005)

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Data source Household Samples of Anonymised Records (HH SARs) –1991 and 2001 –1% sample of England and Wales (200,000) –Ethnicity question introduced from 1991 –For 2001 HH SARs those whose ethnicity answers were imputed were excluded –Age 16-39

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Definition of ethnic groups Presentation group in the study White (W)WhiteBritish Irish Other white Black (B)Black-CaribbeanBlack-Caribbean Black-AfricanBlack-African Black other Other Black Black & White White & Black Caribbean White & Black African South Asian (SA)IndianIndian Pakistani Bangladeshi Other Asian (OA)ChineseChineseOther Asian Others (O)Other ethnic group: White & Asian Other mixed Other ethnic group

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 WhiteBlackSouth Asian Other Asian WhiteW-W BlackB-WB-B South Asian SA-WSA-BSA-SA Other Asian OA-WOA-BOA-SAOA-OA Classifications of mixed-ethnic unions

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Research questions 1.What are the demographic characteristics of MEUs in 1991 and in 2001? Do these characteristics change? 2.Is there a growth in propensity in MEUs between 1991 and 2001?

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Proportions of people in mixed-unions by ethnic group England and Wales, Data Source: 1991 and 2001 ONS LS

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Number of people (16-39) who out- partner with a white person MalesFemalesMalesFemales Black South Asian Other Asian other

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Proportions of people partnering a white person

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1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Proportion of people in MEUs by country of birth

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Proportion of people in MEUs by marital status

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Proportion of people in MEUs by social class

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Proportion of people in MEUs by educational qualification

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Trends of MEUs between 1991 and 2001 Is there a growth in propensity in MEUs in England and Wales in the 1990s?

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Log-linear model Take into account of population sizes Widely used in mixed ethnic unions studies in US

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Reclassify ethnic groups: –NB whiteWhite born in UK –NB BlackBlack Born in UK –FB BlackBlack born outside UK –NB South Asian (NB SA)South Asian born in UK –FB South Asian (FB SA)South Asian born outside UK –Other Asian (OA)

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Variables –Ethnicity –Age –Marital status –Qualification Exogamy preference coefficient is derived from the model as the number of people choosing out-partnering for every 1000 people who choose in-partnering

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1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Conclusions The demographic characteristics of MEUs 1.Those who were born in UK had higher percentages in MEUs 2.Those who were cohabiting were more likely to be in MEUs 3.Blacks who were in lower qualifications were more likely to engage in MEUs, while South Asian and Other Asian in higher qualifications more likely

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Conclusions 4.The patterns were persistent with minor changes in the 1990s 5.For Native born Black and South Asian there is a growth in propensity of out- partnering white people, while for other ethnic groups the exogamous preferences remained basically the same

1-3 September 2008Census microdata 2008 Acknowledgements This research is funded by the ESRC under the Understanding Population Trends and Processes (UPTAP) programme (Award Ref: RES ) The permission of the Office for National Statistics to use the 2001 Special licence HH SARs is gratefully acknowledged. The 2001 Special licence HH SARs were accessed from the data archive. THE 1991 HH SARs were accessed from CCSR, Manchester University. The authors alone are responsible for the interpretation of the data