The growth of interracial marriages is slowing among Hispanics and Asians born in the United States

The number of interracial marriages in the United States has risen 20% since 2000 to about 4.5 million, according to the latest census figures. While still growing, that number is a marked drop-off from the 65% increase between 1990 and 2000. About 8% of U.S. marriages are mixed-race, up from 7% in 2000. The latest trend belies notions of the United States as a post-racial, assimilated society. Demographers cite a steady flow of recent immigration that has given Hispanics and Asians more ethnically similar partners to choose from while creating some social distance from whites due to cultural and language differences. White wariness toward a rapidly growing minority population in the United States also may be contributing to racial divisions. Broken down by race, about 40% of Asians born in the United States now marry whites — a figure unchanged since 1980. Their likelihood of marrying foreign-born Asians, meanwhile, multiplied 3 times for men and 5 times for women, to roughly 20%. Among Hispanics born in the United States, marriages with whites increased modestly from roughly 30% to 38% over the past three decades. But when it came to marriages with foreign-born Hispanics, the share doubled to 12.5% for men, and 17.1% for women. In contrast, blacks are now three times as likely to marry whites than in 1980 with about 14.4% of black men and 6.5% of black women currently in such mixed marriages. Among whites born in the United States, about 0.3% married blacks in 1980; that figure rose to about 1% in 2008. About 0.3% of whites married Asians in 1980 and about 1% in 2008. About 2% of whites married Hispanics in 1980, rising to about 3.6% in 2008.

Related:

Interracial Marriage: 2008 stats