The Transition to First Marriage and Partner Choice of Migrant and Majority Populations in Scandinavia

Using high-quality administrative register data from Norway (N=1,021,491) and Sweden (N=1,923,870), we study the marriage behavior of all migrant- and non-migrant-background individuals born between 1972 and 1989, who were either born in Norway or Sweden or who immigrated prior to age 18 (generation 1.5). The timing of first marriage, relative to patterns of assortative mating, may be informative as to the socio-cultural distance between majority and migrant-background subpopulations. We analyze the differential hazards of marrying an individual of majority- or migrant-background within a competing risk framework. We further differentiate individuals by migrant generation, number of foreign-born parents, and (parental) region of origin. We demonstrate how the individual characteristics of migrant-background individuals (i.e., second generation status and having one majority parent) and the characteristics of one’s partnership (i.e., exogamy) are associated with marital timing patterns that are more similar to the majority populations in both Norway and Sweden. Results provide deeper insight into the family dynamics of migrants and their descendants.