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Demographic Outcomes of Ethnic Intermarriage in American History: Italian-Americans Through Four Generations

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  • Joel Perlmann

Abstract

This paper presents a new approach to measuring the extent of intermarriage among Americans of different ethnic origins. Using U.S. Census microdata and CPS data, measurements of the rates of Italian-American intermarriages across four generations are made to demonstrate that these rates were not merely high following the immigrant generation, but that even low estimates of intermarriage rates will produce high proportions of descendants of mixed origin. Extended asides show (1) how high proportions of Italian-immigrant men could in-marry despite the severe gender imbalance in the immigrant population, and (2) the importance of studying the proportion of immigrant arrivals who came to this country as children and the ambiguous generational status not just of these individuals (the '1.5 generation') but of their children ('2.5'?). Finally, the paper concludes by emphasizing the significance of the results for assimilation among past and future immigrants, the concept of generations, and current-day projections about the future racial composition of the United States.

Suggested Citation

  • Joel Perlmann, 2000. "Demographic Outcomes of Ethnic Intermarriage in American History: Italian-Americans Through Four Generations," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_312, Levy Economics Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_312
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Joel Perlmann, 1998. "The Romance of Assimilation: Studying the Demographic Outcomes of Ethnic Intermarriage in American History," Macroeconomics 9805007, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Joel Perlmann, 1998. "The Romance of Assimilation: Studying the Demographic Outcomes of Ethnic Intermarriage in American History," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_230, Levy Economics Institute.
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    Cited by:

    1. Joel Perlmann, "undated". "Toward a Population History of The Second Generation: Birth Cohorts of Southern-, Central- And Eastern- European Origins, 1871-1970," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_333, Levy Economics Institute.
    2. Joel Perlmann, 2010. "A Demographic Base for Ethnic Survival? Blending Across Four Generations of German-Americans," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_646, Levy Economics Institute.
    3. Joel Perlmann, 2001. "Toward a Population History of The Second Generation: Birth Cohorts of Southern-, Central- And Eastern- European Origins, 1871–1970," Macroeconomics 0108003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Mirna Safi, 2007. "La dimension maritale du processus d’intégration des immigrés en France : Inter-mariage et emploi," Working Papers 2007-13, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.

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    1. Joel Perlmann, 2010. "A Demographic Base for Ethnic Survival? Blending Across Four Generations of German-Americans," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_646, Levy Economics Institute.
    2. Joel Perlmann, 2000. "Demographic Outcomes of Ethnic Intermarriage in American History: Italian-Americans through Four Generations," Macroeconomics 0004059, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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