The Independence of Young Adults and the Rise of Interracial and Same-Sex Unions

Abstract

Interracial unions and same-sex unions were rare and secretive in the past because U.S. society was organized to suppress such unions. The rise of same-sex and interracial unions in the past few decades suggests changes in the basic structure of U.S. society. Young adults have been marrying later, and single young adults are much less likely to live with their parents. The independence of young adults has reduced parental control over their children's choice of mate. Using microdata from the U.S. Census, this article shows that interracial couples and same-sex couples are more geographically mobile and more urban than same-race married couples. The authors view the geographic mobility of young couples as a proxy for their independence from communities of origin. The results show that nontraditional couples are more geographically mobile even after individual and community attributes are taken into account. Same-sex couples are more likely to be interracial than heterosexual couples, indicating that same-sex and interracial couples are part of a common fabric of family diversification. The article discusses related historical examples and trends.

Parenting and Child Development in Adoptive Families: Does Parental Sexual Orientation Matter?

“…Children of lesbian and heterosexual parents were more likely to be daughters, while children of gay fathers were more likely to be sons. As in earlier research (Rosenfeld & Kim, 2005), gay couples were more likely than lesbian or heterosexual couples to be interracial. Lesbian and gay couples completed transracial adoptions more often than heterosexual couples.…”

Intimate relationship development during the transition to adulthood: Differences by social class

“…Research on gay, lesbian, and bisexual adults sheds some light on the experiences of sexual minority youth. The same-sex relationships of adults are on average less homogamous along dimensions of social class, race/ethnicity, and age than heterosexual partners (Andersson and others, 2006;Jepsen & Jepsen, 2002;Rosenfeld & Kim, 2005). Recent work by Meier, Hull, and Ortyl (2007) suggests that this may be because sexual minority youth have more accepting relationship views.…”

Choosing Mixed Methods in Examining Attitudes Toward Interracial Marriages in Sweden

“…Region of upbringing is of interest to observe not only because of the indication of the amount of previous contacts, but also because of previous studies which shows the correlation of moving from the place of origin and interracial marriages. Previous studies in the U.S. in fact show that the geographically urban and mobile population intermarry more (Tucker and Mitchell-Kernan 1990;Rosenfeld and Kim 2005). Even from this perspective, it can be interesting to see if the region respondents grew up in can affect the attitudes towards interracial dating and marriages.…”

“…A fear and suspicion that the growing immigrant groups would undermine the majority society might have developed a basis of group position and prejudices among respondents who have grown up in Malmö, which may affect the attitudes towards interracial dating and marriages. Trying to find an explanation in other aspects than the amount of contact and group position, the result may be a reflection of the studies carried out in the US that show a tendency of increase in interracial marriage for young persons who are geographically mobile (Tucker and Mitchell-Kernan 1990;Rosenfeld and Kim 2005).…”