Indian-Americans Lead in Marriage Stability in US, Finds Study

Immigrant families have more familial stability than native-born Americans, a report by a US-based think tank said.

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As per a report published by a US-based think tank, the Institute of Family Studies (IFS) said that immigrant families have more familial stability than native-born Americans, with Indian-American families leading in terms of marriage stability,

Following India at 94 percent, Bangladesh (87 percent), Pakistan (87 percent), Taiwan (86 percent) and Korea (85 percent) were also high on the list.

After analysing the census data, the IFS said that 72 percent of immigrants with children are still in their first marriage, as opposed to 60 percent native-born Americans.

The director of research at the institute, Wendy Wang, noted that immigrants had relatively higher marriage rates and lower divorce rates in general, Hindustan Times reported.

She highlighted that in 2019, for every 1,000 unmarried immigrants aged 18-64, 59 got married, saying that the corresponding number for native-born Americans was 39, Hindustan Times reported.

The divorce rates, too, remained relatively higher in native-born Americans.

“Only 13 out of 1,000 married immigrants ages 18-64 got a divorce in 2019, compared with 20 out of 1,000 among native-born Americans of same age,” Hindustan Times quoted the report.

Wang said that Indian American ranked number one in family stability, and not all immigrant families were equal when it came to family structure.

According to the IFS’s analysis of the American community survey of 2019, around 94 percent of first-generation Indian immigrants, who are parents, are stably married.

The percentage of Indian-Americans who remarried is 4 percent, with only 2 percent of Indian immigrants with children being unmarried.

The report also said Middle-Eastern and South American immigrants also have a relatively higher level of family stability, Hindustan Times reported.

(With inputs from Hindustan Times.)