Query: Are interracial couples less likely to conceive?
Context: Because interracial partnerships are more likely to face criticism and have less social support from family and friends, their fertility is expected to be lower than that of same-race couples. Indeed, our findings reveal that reproduction rates among interracial couples are much lower than those among racially endogamous couples. Interracial couples are 1.5 times as likely as white married couples to never have children or to have them only once, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. However, because data on infertile marriages are not collected by race, it is difficult to know exactly how many childless or single parent families there are within each racial group. One study that did examine this question found that black Americans are about half as likely as whites to be born into a family with at least one other birth in recent years, which suggests that interracial couples may have similar birth rates. There are several possible explanations for why interracial couples have lower pregnancy rates than white married couples. First, racism may play a role. Because of racial discrimination, interracial couples may experience difficulties getting access to quality education and employment opportunities, which could affect their ability to have children. For example, one study of black Americans found that economic hardship was associated with reduced chances of having a baby through natural methods. Second, differences in sexual behavior may explain some of these results.