International Marriages between Eastern European-Born Women and U.S.-Born Men.

Globalization has increased the occurrence of "international marriages" due to expanded marriage markets resulting from increased travel and communication avenues. Although Eastern Europe is one of the top three regions of origin for marriage migrants, little is known about who chooses this type of marriage arrangement. This study describes demographic characteristics of Eastern European-U.S. international marriages using a nationally representative sample (N = 442) from the American Community Survey, 2008-2009. Paired t test, chi-square, and ANOVA analyses were used to assess within-couple and between-couple differences. Spouses in Eastern-European-U.S. couples were found to differ significantly by age, income, education, and number of previous marriages. Results showed that marriages between Eastern European wives and U.S. husbands differed in important ways from marriages between U.S. citizens. Findings support both status homogamy and status exchange theories of international mate selection.Key Words: Eastern European, exchange, homogamy, international marriages, marriage migrants.The prevalence of international marriages in the United States, that is, marriages between nativeborn and foreign-born spouses, has been on the rise since the passage of the 1 965 immigration legislation that allowed for family reunification (when U.S. citizens and permanent residents may sponsor relatives for immigration). By the end of the 20th century, the increase in travel for tourism, business, and study, as well as the development of communication technologies, supported in-person and technology-mediated contacts between citizens of different countries. As a result, over the past two decades, the number of nonimmigrant visas issued annually to spouses of U.S. citizens who were born in countries other than the United States increased fivefold.Despite this increase, little research has been done on characteristics of individuals from Eastern Europe who marry U.S. citizens and settle down in the United States (also are referred as marriage migrants or foreign-born spouses). Studies that examine this phenomenon are mainly qualitative. Although studies using qualitative designs allow the voices of women to be heard, the larger scale picture of international marriages is missing in this body of literature. Using a nationally representative sample, our study employed a quantitative approach to explore characteristics of individuals who are in international marriages in the United States. Moreover, studies on international marriages tend to focus only on the foreign-born spouses and specifically on those who have experienced abuse in their marriage relationship. Our study explored couple-level characteristics to understand differences and similarities between international marriage partners.Finally, Eastern European immigrants in general are an often overlooked group because their "Whiteness" masks differences (Robila, 2007). This study focused on women who were born in Eastern Europe (EE born) and moved to the United States as marriage migrants. Because these women are White and are married to White U.S. citizens, we explored how international families with marriage migrants from Eastern Europe are compared to non-Hispanic White U.S. marriages. Although there are studies on international marriages with foreign-born spouses from regions other than Eastern Europe, EE-U.S. spouses have not been specifically compared to U.S.-U.S. spouses.Our research builds on previous international marriage studies, adding to the scholarly literature in three ways. First, we used nationally representative data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, that is, 2008 and 2009 American Community Survey (ACS; Ruggles et al., 2010). This data set contains demographic characteristics of international marriages in the United States and includes couples with EEborn female marriage migrants married to U.S.born citizens (N = 442). Second, we explored differences and similarities between spouses in EE-U. …