Effects of Educational and Metropolitan Context on U.S. Black Intermarriage

Abstract

Both individual and structural level analyses have been conducted on black intermarriage extensively, but how well have they been measured? This dissertation examines the effects of education and metropolitan contexts of black intermarriage in the United States. Evidence from 2008-2014 IPUMS-ACS data suggest that education and the distance in education level between spouses predict greater odds of intermarriage for both black men and women. Logistic regression and HLM modeling were used to analyze the relationship between education, metropolitan context and predating the odds of intermarriage for both black men and women. When context is considered, there is a stark contrast among gender lines in the prediction of intermarriage. Findings indicate that both education and context are important for predicting the likelihood of intermarriage for black men. The picture is not so clear for black wives.