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The Wall Street Journal reported on a new study by the Pew Research Center showing that interracial and interethnic marriages continue to rise. The number one ethnic group with the highest rate of ‘outmarriage’ (that is, marrying outside one’s ethnic group) is Hispanics. Among married people in 2010, 9% of Whites, 17% of Blacks , 26% of Hispanics and 28% of Asians married outside of their ethnic or racial group.
The study authors attribute the rise to shifts in behavior, attitudes and demographics. More specifically, they state that “Rising interracial marriage rates suggest men and women of different races are more likely than in the past to come into contact with each other as coequals in the same neighborhoods, schools and work settings”. Positive views of interracial marriage are also correlated with being young and college-educated, as opposed to older and with only a high-school diploma.
These results show that, as ethnic groups move into more diverse neighborhoods and achieve increased levels of education, their contact with people from other groups increases, as does the likelihood of marrying someone from another group. This also bodes well for Hispanic educational and economic achievement, as Hispanics are the group marrying members of other groups at the highest rate. Interestingly, New Mexico claims the biggest prevalence of white-Hispanics marriages, or 20%. These are all encouraging signs for a more diverse country, especially since these trends show no signs of slowing.
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