Trading Youth for Citizenship? The Spousal Age Gap in Cross‐Border Marriages

Abstract

Prior studies concerning patterns of intermarriage among immigrants have primarily focused on how factors such as race/ethnicity, educational attainment, and country of origin shape the choice of a spouse. Moreover, they have focused on intermarriage patterns among immigrants who are already in the US. Using the 2010–2014 American Community Survey (ACS), we focus on immigrants who were not US citizens at the time of their marriage and highlight patterns of status exchange, specifically, the exchange of youth for citizenship. Towards this end, we compare the age gap between spouses across four different groups of respondents: 1) non-citizens married to a citizen before or upon arrival to the US; 2) non-citizens married to a citizen after arrival to the US; 3) non-citizens married to a non-citizen before or upon arrival to the US; and 4) non-citizens married to a non-citizen after arrival in the US. We document the fact that a large fraction of marriages between citizens and non-citizens occurred before or upon arrival to the US. We also provide evidence that immigrants who migrate to the US after marrying a US citizen, particularly women, tend to be partnered with much older spouses, signaling an exchange of youth for citizenship.

Transnational Migration Aspirations, Educational Capabilities, Marriage Preferences, and Health Outcomes: A Mixed-Methods Study Among Pakistani youth

“…A great segment of skilled youth desires for attaining immigration status in wealthier countries because of the worse socio-economic circumstances in their country of origin. This migration can either be a permanent or a semi-permanent change of residence [1]. Population movements are a fundamental human endeavour that has been happening since the beginning of mankind.…”

“…Several studies have demonstrated a continuous growth in migration marriages of south-Asian women in western countries [5]. In South Asia, marriages with immigrants have been sparked by cultural pressures and a wish for better life opportunities [1]. Frequently, young women from developing countries marry older men to offer beauty, youth and domesticity with traditional gender roles and companionship [6].…”

“…This may be due to the low cultural hybridity and cultural deviance. Cultural hybridity is characterised by a person from a different background who comes to another culture and can become more acceptant of other beliefs, races, languages, and religions [1]. Chiang [13] described the phenomenon very accurately:…”

“…Pakistanis in UK seem to have frozen identities. Some studies highlighted the assumption of wives' passivity in arranged migration marriages or in joining husbands overseas [14,15], while others have demonstrated the dearth of studies on experiences of men who migrate to join wives working abroad [1,10]. According to Sheffer [16] "modern diasporas are actually mirror representations of culture of origin in the host countries because of maintaining strong emotional and material bonding with their homelands'.…”

“Daddies,” “Cougars,” and Their Partners Past Midlife: Gender Attitudes and Relationship and Sexual Well-Being among Older Adults in Age-Heterogenous Partnerships

“…Transnational processes and race are also tied to age-related partnering practices. Using the 2010-to-2014 ACS, Balistreri, Joyner, and Kao (2017) found that citizenship status was related to age gaps between partners, particularly for women. Immigrant women who married a U.S. citizen before or upon arrival had the largest age gaps between themselves and their husband, with smaller but still substantial gaps between immigrant women who married a U.S. citizen a year or more after arrival.…”