Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

More than Four-in-Ten Americans Approve of Increase in Intermarriage

Marriage across racial and ethnic lines continues to be on the rise in the United States. The share of new marriages between spouses of a different race or ethnicity increased to 15.1% in 2010, and the share of all current marriages that are either interracial or interethnic has reached an all-time high of 8.4%.

More than four-in-ten Americans (43%) view this increase in intermarriage as a societal change for the better, while about one-in-ten (11%) hold the opposite view. The rest of the public says it doesn’t make a difference.

Young adults, higher educated people, liberals and those living in the Northeast or Western states are most likely to hold positive views of intermarriage. Read More