Assortative Mating and Residential Segregation of Ancestry Groups in Stockholm

Benjamin Jarvis, Linköping University
Robert D. Mare, University of California, Los Angeles and Linköping University
Monica Nordvik, Linköping University

This paper presents a combined analysis of assortative mating and neighborhood residential segregation of ancestry and immigrant status groups in Stockholm. We develop a model that includes the effects of segregation on couple formation, the residential choices of newly cohabiting couples who vary in ancestry and place of residence prior to cohabitation, and the combined effects of these processes on residential segregation. We use Swedish population register data for 1990-2012, which provide unique longitudinal observations on cohabiting relationships and residential mobility for the entire population. Estimates based on Poisson regression models for the homogamy of couples and discrete choice models for where new couples live show that residential propinquity has modest effects on couple formation, but where single individuals live before cohabitation and the demographic composition of neighborhoods have strong effects on where new cohabitors live. Simulations based on the combined model indicate that couple formation is an important source of persistent segregation of ancestral groups.