title: Broken boundaries or broken marriages? Racial intermarriage and divorce in the United States.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Several recent studies have investigated the consequences of racial intermarriage for marital stability. None of these studies properly control for first-order racial differences in divorce risk, therefore failing to appropriately identify the effect of intermarriage. Our article builds on an earlier generation of studies to develop a model that appropriately identifies the consequences of crossing racial boundaries in matrimony.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyze the 1995 and 2002 National Survey of Family Growth using a parametric event-history model called a sickle model. To appropriately identify the effect of interracial marriage we use the interaction of wife's race and husband's race.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We find elevated divorce rates for Latino/white intermarriages but not for black/white intermarriages. Seventy-two percent of endogamous Latino marriages remain intact at 15 years, but only 58 percent of Latino husband/white wife and 64 percent of white husband/Latina wife marriages are still intact.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We have identified an important deficiency in previous studies and provide a straightforward resolution. Although higher rates of Latino/white intermarriage may indicate more porous group boundaries, the greater instability of these marriages suggests that these boundaries remain resilient.
authors.forename: Vincent Kang
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Nicholas H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Wolfinger
mesh_terms: D018864:Cultural Diversity; D004243:Divorce / Q000191:economics / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D005191:Family Characteristics / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D017533:Marital Status / Q000208:ethnology; D008393:Marriage / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D044382:Population Groups / Q000193:education / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D011822:Race Relations / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D012924:Social Conditions / Q000191:economics / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology