Volume 33 - Article 10 | Pages 273–312

Union formation and dissolution among immigrants and their descendants in the United Kingdom

By Tina Hannemann, Hill Kulu

Print this page  Facebook  Twitter

 

 
Date received:02 Jul 2014
Date published:04 Aug 2015
Word count:6882
Keywords:cohabitation, divorce, ethnic minorities, immigrants, marriage, second generation, separation, United Kingdom
DOI:10.4054/DemRes.2015.33.10
Updated Items:On January 16, 2018 Figure 4 on page 286 was replaced with a corrected version.
Weblink:You will find all publications in this Special Collection “Partnership Dynamics among Immigrants and Their Descendants in Europe” at http://www.demographic-research.org/special/18/
 

Abstract

Background: There is a growing literature on the dynamics of immigrant fertility and mixed marriages, but partnership transitions among immigrants and ethnic minorities are little studied.

Objective: This study investigates union formation and dissolution among immigrants and their descendants in the UK.

Methods: We use data from the Understanding Society study and apply the techniques of event history analysis. We contrast partnership trajectories of various immigrant groups and compare these with those of the 'native' British population.

Results: The analysis shows significant differences in partnership formation and dissolution among immigrants and ethnic minorities. Women of Caribbean origin have the highest cohabitation and the lowest marriage rates, whereas cohabitation remains rare among immigrants from South Asia and their descendants, as most of them marry directly. Immigrants from the Caribbean region and their descendants also show higher divorce rates than 'native' British women, whereas women of South Asian origin have a low divorce risk.

Author's Affiliation

Tina Hannemann - University of Manchester, United Kingdom [Email]
Hill Kulu - University of St Andrews, United Kingdom [Email]

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

» Union formation and fertility amongst immigrants from Pakistan and their descendants in the United Kingdom: A multichannel sequence analysis
Volume 48 - Article 10

» Family life transitions, residential relocations, and housing in the life course: Current research and opportunities for future work: Introduction to the Special Collection on “Separation, Divorce, and Residential Mobility in a Comparative Perspective”
Volume 43 - Article 2

» Separation, divorce, and housing tenure: A cross-country comparison
Volume 41 - Article 39

» Homeownership after separation: A longitudinal analysis of Finnish register data
Volume 41 - Article 29

» Union dissolution and housing trajectories in Britain
Volume 41 - Article 7

» A decade of life-course research on fertility of immigrants and their descendants in Europe
Volume 40 - Article 46

» Co-ethnic marriage versus intermarriage among immigrants and their descendants: A comparison across seven European countries using event-history analysis
Volume 39 - Article 17

» Social policies, separation, and second birth spacing in Western Europe
Volume 37 - Article 37

» Why does fertility remain high among certain UK-born ethnic minority women?
Volume 35 - Article 49

» Introduction to research on immigrant and ethnic minority families in Europe
Volume 35 - Article 2

» Partnership formation and dissolution among immigrants in the Spanish context
Volume 35 - Article 1

» Premarital cohabitation and divorce: Support for the "Trial Marriage" Theory?
Volume 23 - Article 31

» High Suburban Fertility: Evidence from Four Northern European Countries
Volume 21 - Article 31

» Migration and union dissolution in a changing socio-economic context: The case of Russia
Volume 17 - Article 27

» Fertility differences by housing type: The effect of housing conditions or of selective moves?
Volume 17 - Article 26

» Family change and migration in the life course: An introduction
Volume 17 - Article 19

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

» Introduction to research on immigrant and ethnic minority families in Europe
Volume 35 - Article 2    | Keywords: cohabitation, divorce, ethnic minorities, immigrants, marriage, second generation, separation

» Partnership formation and dissolution among immigrants in the Spanish context
Volume 35 - Article 1    | Keywords: cohabitation, divorce, immigrants, marriage, separation

» A register-based account of period trends in union prevalence, entries, and exits by educational level for men and women in Finland
Volume 48 - Article 14    | Keywords: cohabitation, divorce, marriage

» Socioeconomic preconditions to union formation: Exploring variation by migrant background
Volume 45 - Article 32    | Keywords: cohabitation, ethnic minorities, marriage

» Recent trends in the Chinese family: National estimates from 1990 to 2010
Volume 44 - Article 25    | Keywords: cohabitation, divorce, marriage

Articles

»Volume 33

 

Citations

 

 

Similar Articles

 

 

Jump to Article

Volume Page
Volume Article ID