One of Every 10 Straight Married Couples in the U.S. Is Interracial
Meghan Keneally, Daily Mail (London), April 25, 2012
The 2010 census noted the highest number of interracial marriages in America’s history, noting a 28 per cent jump over the past decade.
One out of every 10 married straight couples identified as different races, which shows an increase from 7 per cent in the 2000 census data.
Greater social acceptance of the unions and demographic shifts throughout the country are thought to be the two largest contributing factors to the increase.
The 2010 census noted the highest number of interracial marriages in America’s history, noting a 28 per cent jump over the past decade.
One out of every 10 married straight couples identified as different races, which shows an increase from 7 per cent in the 2000 census data.
Greater social acceptance of the unions and demographic shifts throughout the country are thought to be the two largest contributing factors to the increase.
A couple with a multi-racial member was the second most common couple, followed by the pairing of one Asian person and a white partner, with couples featuring a black partner and a white partner coming in fourth.
The percentage of interracial couples increases dramatically when looking at unmarried couples.
Unmarried straight couples reported 18 per cent interracial, while the highest proportion belonged to same-sex unmarried partnerships which showed 21 per cent.
Regionally, the West of the country reported more interracial couples than any other area of the country.
That finding was largely due to the fact that the states with the highest interracial marriage statistics are those with large ‘native populations’.
Hawaii, with its significant number of Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander populations, was the highest-ranked state with 37 per cent of married couples identifying as interracial.
The next three- Alaska, New Mexico, and Oklahoma- all have varying ethnic groups.
Alaska Natives are classified as a different race, and the large Native American populations in Oklahoma and New Mexico contribute to the high interracial statistics in those states.
BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS (by thousands)
White Wife Black Wife Asian Wife Other Wife
White Husband 50,410 168 529 487
Black Husband 390 4,072 39 66
Asian Husband 219 9 2,855 28
Other Husband 488 18 37 568
Based on 2010 Census Data
