23 Intriguing Biracial Marriage Statistics

Although a majority of people in previous generations saw biracial marriage as something that was detrimental to society, it is becoming more commonplace around the world. In many developed nations, it is something that happens nearly every week.

2 million biracial marriages happen in the United States every single year.

It isn’t just minority races that are marrying to other minority races either. Over 200k Caucasian Americans marry someone of a different race every year. In the last three decades alone, biracial marriages have almost tripled. That means over 8% of all marriages in the United States right now are biracial marriages.

Fast Facts About Biracial Marriage Right Now

1. Caucasians and Hispanics make up the majority of biracial marriages in the United States at this current time.
2. Asians and Caucasians make up another 15% of the biracial marriages that occur every single year.
3. According to the most recent US census, there are 9 million Americans who have listed their ethnicity as being of a mixed race.
4. In 2013, a record-high 12% of newlyweds married someone of a different race, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of census data.
5. American Indians have the highest interracial marriage rate among all single-race groups.

Takeaway: Part of the reason that biracial marriages are becoming more commonplace has to be because of the attitudes that Millennials have toward race and diversity. Many believe that communities draw strength from the differences that people bring to the table and this diversity is then used to build a unique ethnicity and culture that can be called their own. There is no longer a stigma for many when it comes to different races coming together if that’s what two people want to do. Only 13% of people see biracial marriage as a bad thing for society, but despite the welcoming of different lifestyles, more than 53% of US babies are born to two Caucasian parents.

Are Biracial Marriages More Secure?

1. The divorce rate for biracial marriages is equal to the divorce rate of marriages that are same race couples.
2. The one demographic that has a higher risk of divorce in a biracial marriage is a Caucasian woman, as her divorce rates are higher than the national average in marriages with Hispanic and African-American men.
3. Nearly 5 million biracial marriages occurred in 2012, which was the most ever recorded in the United States in a 12 month period.
4. Out of all of the marriages that occur throughout the year, 1 out of every 12 is a biracial marriage.
5. Southern and Western states have higher rates of biracial marriages than the national average, along with a directly corresponding higher rate of immigration of Asian or Hispanic populations.
6. Hispanics and Asians are the most likely to have a biracial marriage, with 25% of each demographic having a spouse of a different race.
7. Biracial couples have, on average, higher levels of income than marriages that are of same-race individuals.

Takeaway: If all things are equivalent and the one major difference in biracial marriages is that they make more money on average, then what is there not to like? After all, there are no differences on average in the divorce rates, so the religious minorities will be pleased with this. Capitalists will enjoy the higher levels of income these marriages can provide a community. The one real issue, however, comes from a bullying perspective. Children of biracial couples are likely to be different still in their community and this may cause certain divides because they are a new minority group.

Are Biracial Marriages Growing?

1. Nearly 1 out of 5 new marriages that occurs will be a biracial marriage.
2. The Asian demographic is the most likely to have a biracial marriage, as 28% in a recent Census survey noted that they had a spouse of a different race.
3. 4 out of every 10 Americans support the idea of biracial marriages benefiting society in their own unique way.
4. Those who describe themselves as Conservative are less likely to support biracial marriages than self-described Liberals.
5. Despite growing acceptance of biracial marriages, white men marrying African-American women is still a negative stigma in most communities.
6. Only 3% of marriages are to white/black couples in the most popular states for these biracial marriages to occur.
7. 6 out of 10 people said they wouldn’t care if someone within their family married outside of their race.

Takeaway: There is some good here, but there is still some bad here as well. The racial divide between Caucasians and African-Americans is still in existence despite the progress that has been made. Part of this may be because the idea of this particular coupling makes people visually uncomfortable and that discomfort creates a level of avoidance or even negativity. On the other hand, there is a worldwide trend to be more accepting of biracial couples that may influence people on a local level and change attitudes. The amount of people who consider biracial marriages as a bad thing has been more than halved in the last few decades. If this trend continues, the stigma should be all but gone soon.

What Does The World Say About Biracial Marriages?

1. In Japan, more than 7 out of every 10 marriages is a biracial marriage.
2. In Canada, more than 340,000 children are apart of a biracial marriage and these households have grown by more than a third in the last decade alone.
3. Immigrants are more likely to decide on a biracial marriage the longer they take up residence in their new country.
4. The income gap of biracial couples over same-race couples is growing, with it being more than $5k in recent data.

Takeaway: Biracial couples don’t face the same levels of hostility that they once did, but there are still some problems that need to be solved. 1 out of every 10 people finding a biracial marriage to be a detriment to society is 1 person too many. In the future, biracial marriages look to become more normal than same-race marriages, which brings up an interesting question: will our children or our grandchildren see a marriage between two people of the same race as a detriment to society?