Partner Type Attitudes of Parents and Adolescents: Understanding the Decline in Transnational Partnerships among Turkish Migrants in Flanders

Abstract

This article describes an unprecedented decline in transnational partnerships among Turkish migrants in Flanders, using population data on all marriages between 2001 and 2008. Studying parental preferences regarding partner selection, we examine attitudinal mechanisms behind this decline. Based on a representative survey, our first result is that (direct) parental involvement in partner selection is lower among the more recent marriage cohorts. Second, parents and adolescents have moved away from a focus on the origin country in partner selection, while ethnic homogamy remains preferred. Third, openness toward mixed partnerships is found among a small but salient proportion of parents and associated with the religious attendance of male parents. We conclude that an attitudinal shift has occurred from a focus on the origin country to an orientation toward the local (ethnic) community. This decline in transnational partnerships is more a product of intense attitudinal change than a reflection of a policy change in the direction of discouraging partner migration and has implications for the integration and demographic characteristics of Turkish ethnic minorities in Flemish society. Additionally, international migration patterns are affected as the character of long-lasting migration from Turkey to Europe is changing and partner migration, one of the most accessible channels to enter Europe, is rapidly decreasing.