To Marry or Not to Marry: Diverging Age of First Marriage among Southeast Asians in the U.S.

Savet Hong, University of California, Berkeley

Since 1975, there has been a flow of immigration, largely refugees, to the United States from Southeast Asia, yet the stream of literature on this group has been limited. As this segment of the population continues to permanently settle and grow within the United States, it is necessary to understand its characteristics in order to better understand the implications this may have on the general composition of the country’s population as a whole and the intersection of policy decisions. Taking a step in this direction, this paper uses IPUMS to examine male and female mean age at first marriage of Southeast Asian groups across nine geographical regions for 1990 and 2000. The analysis shows unusual variation between the sexes, ethnic groups, and census years. The findings are discussed in terms of the method used and the dynamic flow of this population.