Interethnic Marriage: Bringing in the Context through Multilevel Modelling

This article deals with the underlying causes of interethnic marriages of Turks and Moroccans living in Belgium. Predictions derived from assimilation theory (micro-perspective) and from the macro-structural perspective are combined in a single empirical model through multilevel modelling. It is found that both individual and higher-level determinants independently influence the propensity for being interethnically married. Higher odds are generally found for the second generation and at higher levels of age at marriage and educational attainment. Interethnic marriage is further promoted by a small size of the ethnic group, by low ethnic heterogeneity and by low correlation between the ethnic and the socio-economic dimension. Interethnic marriages are generally more prevalent in districts where the common language is French and where the majority of immigrants originate from urban regions in the country of origin.