Marriage Behaviors of Native-Born and Migrant Youth in Canada and Australia

Thomas LeGrand, Université de Montréal
Siew-Ean Khoo, Australian National University

This study uses logit regression to examine patterns of marriages and consensual unions among first and second generation immigrant youth, compared to non-immigrant youth, using 2001 Canadian and Australian census data, two countries with large immigrant populations. Both censuses asked for parents' places of birth, allowing for a study of change across immigrant generations, and the large datasets permit a detailed examination of patterns by immigrant/ethnic origin. Assimilation theory argues that the behaviors of new immigrants should least resemble those of the local population, with the children of immigrants falling in-between. We examine the degree that union patterns among immigrant groups differ from those prevailing in the two countries. Do immigrants tend to marry within their own groups, after controlling for the local size of these groups? Across immigrant generations, do behaviors converge to those of non-immigrants, and do some groups appear to be relatively more resistant to assimilation?