Choice of spouse among Norwegian-born to immigrant parents

This is one of the findings in a report by Statistics Norway researcher Kenneth Aarskaug Wiiks - ” Valg av ektefelle blant norskfødte med innvandrerforeldre ” (in Norwegian with an abstract in English – Choice of spouse among Norwegian-born to immigrant parents).

The report examines the choice of spouse among Norwegian-born women and men with immigrant parents born between 1972 and 1994; a population group that, at the beginning of 2013, was made up of around 25,000 persons. The report looks at first marriages entered into between 1990 and 2012, and examines the incidence of marriages within and across countries of origin and immigrant backgrounds. The report also considers factors that affect a person’s choice of partner, such as (parents’) country of origin, education and age upon marriage.

One in five married

Approximately one in five Norwegian-born women and men with immigrant parents born between 1972 and 1994 were married as per 1 January 2013. Of those, 89 per cent originated from countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Oceania except Australia and New Zealand, and Europe outside the EU/EEA. This group represents 87 per cent of the Norwegian-born to immigrant parents born between 1972 and 1994.

Majority choose a partner with a similar immigrant background

Seventy-six per cent of the Norwegian-born to immigrant parents were married to someone who also had an immigrant background, i.e. who was either Norwegian-born to immigrant parents or a young immigrant (defined for these purposes as someone who immigrated before their 18th birthday). The corresponding share among young immigrants was 70 per cent.

Ninety-two per cent of those without an immigrant background had married a partner with the same or similar background to their own, i.e. someone with at least one Norwegian-born parent.

Of the Norwegian-born to immigrant parents who had married, 51 per cent had married someone from the same country. This was also the case for 56 per cent of young immigrants and 89 per cent of those without an immigrant background.

Country of origin determining factor in choosing partner

Among Norwegian-born to parents born in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Oceania except Australia and New Zealand, and Europe outside the EU/EEA, 83 per cent were married to someone who also had an immigrant background, while 56 per cent had a spouse from the same country.

Among Norwegian-born to parents from EU/EEA countries, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the corresponding shares were 19 and 6 per cent respectively.

Multivariate analyses showed that Norwegian-born women and men with at least one parent from Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe outside the EU had a higher likelihood of marrying someone with an immigrant background than Norwegian-born with a background elsewhere, also when compared to those who had other characteristics in common, such as age upon marriage, education level, gender, place of residence and year of marriage.

 Norwegian-born with a background from Asia and Africa had the highest probability of marrying someone from the same country as themselves.

Separate analyses of the five largest countries of origin showed that Norwegian-born with parents from Pakistani and Turkey had a higher probability of having a partner with the same background (either with an immigrant background or from the same country) than those with parents born in Vietnam, India and Morocco.