First Partner Choice in a Native Minority: The Role of Own and Parental Ethnolinguistic Affiliation

• Published in: European journal of population Vol. 40; no. 1; p. 3
• Main Authors: Uggla, Caroline, Saarela, Jan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.12.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Background; Cohabitation; Competing risks models; Demography; Endogamy; Ethnic groups; Ethnic relations; Ethnicity; Ethnolinguistics; Human Geography; Intermarriage; Mate selection; Membership; Methodology of the Social Sciences; Minority & ethnic groups; Minority groups; Minority-majority union; Original Research; Parents & parenting; Partner choice; Population Economics; Public Finance; Residential areas; Social Sciences; Sociology; Unions; Cohabitation; Ethnicity; Partner choice; Endogamy; Minority-majority union
• ISSN: 0168-6577; 1572-9885; 1572-9885
• DOI: 10.1007/s10680-023-09683-2

Despite increasing diversity within many societies, ethnically endogamous unions remain common. In contexts where one ethnic minority has lived alongside the majority for centuries, understanding who partners with whom is central to understanding how ethnic boundaries are maintained or dissolved. This study examines the role of own and parental ethnolinguistic affiliation for the first partner choice in Finland. We provide a unique test of the relevance of ethnic endogamy across two generations, in a context where both groups are native, but one (Finnish speakers) overwhelmingly outnumbers the other (Swedish speakers). Using register data on the total population, we examine how a person’s ethnolinguistic affiliation and background affect the choice of the first cohabiting partner in terms of the partner’s ethnolinguistic affiliation and background. We apply discrete-time competing risk models for men and women born 1970–1983. Results indicate that Swedish-registered individuals with two Swedish-registered parents are, by far, the most likely to partner with another Swedish-registered person with endogamous background. Partnering with a Swedish-registered person with exogamous background is most likely among individuals who themselves come from mixed unions. Patterns are remarkably consistent across gender, and adjustments for education and residential area only marginally alter the results.