Immigrant marriage patterns in Australia

Abstract

Summary A previous article in Population Studies discussed more reliable methods of using intermarriage statistics as a measure of assimilation than those in common use; this article uses these methods to assess a particular situation viz.: the Immigrant population of Australia 1947–1960. In general It appears: that three-quarters of British male immigrants, and two-thirds of females, have married Into the older Australian stock; that about one-half of Dutch and Maltese male immigrants (though considerably fewer females) have intermarried but that solid family migration has more than counterbalanced this tendency to disrupt ethnic group solidarity; that eastern European males have been intermarrying with British-Australians and other immigrants, largely because of inability to obtain brides from Iron Curtain countries; that Greeks and Italians, both male and female, have intermarried very little and this, plus large-scale family migration, has greatly strengthened ethnic-group solidarity. With second generation southern Europeans Intermarriage has increased amongst males but not amongst females, largely because of the competition for brides caused by a surplus of Immigrant bachelors.