Using pooled data from the 1995 and 2002 NSFGs, we compare the timing and type of first union, fertility behavior in cohabitation and marriage, and the duration and outcome of first cohabiting unions for White, Black, U.S.-born Mexican American, and foreign-born Mexican American women. We find that the most pronounced differences in cohabitation are between foreign-born Mexicans and women born in the United States. Although the behavior of most foreign-born Mexicans favors marriage over cohabitation, cohabitation may substitute for marriage for a small number of foreign-born Mexicans. Patterns of cohabitation among U.S.- born Mexican Americans are consistently between those of foreign-born Mexicans and U.S.- born Whites, suggesting that assimilation changes union behavior. For Whites, our results suggest that cohabitation is a stage in the courtship process leading to marriage; whereas for Blacks, cohabitation is a highly unstable union that appears to substitute for marriage. Much of the variation by race, ethnicity and nativity status is accounted for by group differences in socioeconomic characteristics. Remaining variation may be attributable to group differences in the value of marriage and the obligations of partners in consensual unions.

Using data from the 2000 U.S. and Mexican Censuses, this paper examines the relationship between migration and marriage patterns by describing how the distributions of marital statuses and assortative mating patterns vary by individual and community experiences of migration. In Mexico, migrants and those living in areas with high levels of migration are less likely to marry a spouse with the same level of education. Return migrants from the U.S. to Mexico may use their improved economic position to marry up. In the U.S., Mexican migrants are also less likely to enter into homogamous unions; however, the odds of homogamy do not vary by couple level of migration. Migrants may expand their pool of potential spouses to include non-migrants and nonmigrants tend to be better educated than Mexican migrants. With individual migration experiences, the odds of marrying outside of one’s education group increase the most among the least educated. With community level of migration in Mexico, the odds of marrying outside of the group increases the most among the best educated. These findings suggest that preferences for homogamy are disrupted by migration.