Feng, Z., van Ham, M., Boyle, P. & Raab, G. (2010) Full Research Project, ESRC End of Award Report, RES-163-25-0045. Swindon: ESRC. [SLS][ONS LS]

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Extract:

The geographical study of mixed-ethnic couples is not new, although most of this research has been conducted in the US (Peach, 1980, Wong, 1999). This study builds on a long history of research on residential segregation, but extends this work to explore how mixed-ethnic couples contribute to changing ethnic geographies. Limited research has examined mixed-ethnic unions in the UK, mainly using cross-sectional data from the 1991 Census 1% Household Samples of Anonymised Records (SAR) or the UK Labour Force Surveys (LFS) (e.g. Ballard 1997; Berrington 1996; Coleman 1985, 2004; Data Management and Analysis Group Update 2005; Holdsworth and Dale 1997; Johnston, et al., 2006, Muttarak, 2004). The 1994 Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities was also used to investigate mixed-ethnic unions (Muttarak, 2003). Most of these studies focussed on basic trends in the growth of mixed-ethnic unions. A notable exception is Muttarak’s (2004) study which investigated the socio-economic determinants of mixed-unions using LFS data. However, none of these published studies have used longitudinal data to explore changes in the geographies of mixed-ethnic couples. In particular, no study has examined whether living in mixed-ethnic neighbourhoods makes it more likely for people to enter mixed-ethnic unions, or whether those in mixed-ethnic unions are more likely to move into mixed-ethnic neighbourhoods. Nor has any study examined the stability of mixed-ethnic unions and how this may be influenced by geographical context, or whether mixed-ethnic households are more likely to live in, or move to, higher-status neighbourhoods. This study is therefore the first to explore the local geography of mixed-ethnic unions in Britain and to examine the associations of neighbourhoods and mixed-ethnic partnerships using longitudinal data.

Available online: Full Research Project, ESRC End of Award Report, RES-163-25-0045.
Download output document: Full Report (PDF 935KB)
Output from project: 2007_016 (SLS), 30092 (ONS LS)