Are Interracial Marriages Really Less Stable?

Abstract

There is an insufficiency of demographic knowledge about interracial marriage in the continental United States, and also a contradiction of facts and viewpoints. Without much statistical confirmation it has been argued that mixed-race marriages are and are not increasing, and that Negro-White marriages, in particular, are and are not more stable than homogamous ones. An analysis of a set of data on the State of Iowa covering almost 30 years, although of small size, discloses that mixed Negro marriages have increased in the last decade. The divorce rate for Negro-Negro couples is about twice as high as that for whites. But the divorce ratios of other minority couples, and their mixed marriages with whites, are higher or lower than the average, depending upon the particular minority involved. Most remarkably, the information for Iowa indicates that as regards divorce Negro-white marriages are more stable than Negro-Negro marriages, and Negro husbands with white wives have a lower divorce outcome than do white couples. This content downloaded from 207.46.13.191 on Mon, 01 Aug 2016 05:20:53 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms