Union Formation and Partner Choice among Ex-Yugoslav Immigrants in Sweden
Union Formation and Partner Choice among Ex-Yugoslav Immigrants in Sweden

Summary/Abstract: The mechanisms of exogamy and endogamy among immigrants are considered important indicators of social integration in the host society. The goal of this paper is to analyze the patterns of union formation among ex-Yugoslav of the first and second generation in Sweden. The study analyzes both marriages and non-marital childbearing unions.Yugoslav immigration to Sweden started in the 1960s. During this period, the immigration was mostly due to economic reasons. The nature of migration movements changed in the 1990s, when Sweden received a large number of refugees from the former Yugoslavia. Data from Statistics Sweden indicate that today, if considered a single group, ex-Yugoslavs constitute the largest immigrant community in Sweden.Based on the previous research, three main hypotheses are proposed. The assimilation hypothesis assumes that immigrants and children of immigrants undergo a process of acculturation in the host society. Therefore, one should expect that there is a positive association between length of stay in Sweden and exogamy and a negative association between length of stay in Sweden and endogamy. The group size hypothesis originates from the macro-sociological theory and predicts that chances of endogamy (exogamy) will be higher (lower) in the areas with a strong presence of ex-Yugoslav immigrants. Finally, the education hypothesis is based on the previous findings on the interplay between education on the one hand and preferences and opportunities on the marriage market on the other. This hypothesis predicts that university educated ex-Yugoslavs in Sweden will, all else equal, be most likely to enter a union with a native Swedish person.This study uses data from the STAR compilation of the Swedish register data. The data are longitudinal and cover the entire population residing in Sweden in a given year. The study covers the time period between 1990. One of the main limitations of the dataset is the inability to classify the individuals of Yugoslav origin according to their affiliation to post-Yugoslav countries created after 1991. For the purpose of this analysis, immigrants from all parts of the former Yugoslavia are merged into a single category, ex-Yugoslav immigrants. Person is considered to be of Yugoslav origin either if he or she was born in the former Yugoslavia and immigrated to Sweden by the age of 15, or if the individual was born in Sweden to two Yugoslav-born parents. Those who immigrated at an age older than 15 are excluded from the study, due to the possibility that they had made the plans on union formation before moving to Sweden. The main analysis is based on discrete-time multinomial logistic regression. Descriptive results show that endogamous union is the most frequent choice among both men and women, with the propensity for endogamy being somewhat more pronounced among women. The multivariate analysis supports all three hypotheses (assimilation hypothesis, group size hypothesis and education hypothesis). Age also matters in the process of union formation – the analysis indicates that the formation of endogamous unions on average takes place at younger ages, especially among women. There is a positive association between being employed and the formation of union among men, regardless of the origin of the partner. On the other hand, employment matters less for women. In order to further examine the causal mechanisms behind the results of this study, it will be necessary to conduct additional research, combining quantitative and qualitative methods.

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