MARRIAGE MARKETS AND THE PARADOX OF MEXICAN-AMERICAN NUPTIALITY

Current research on the retreat from marriage emphasizes the economic underpinnings of family formation, especially among disadvantaged mino rities. The paradox of Mexican American nuptiality is that first marri age rates among Mexican Americans are similar to those among Anglos, d espite economic circumstances that closely approximate those of Africa n Americans. Using event histories constructed from the National Longi tudinal Survey of Youth, this study extends previous analyses by inves tigating the roles of both structural (e.g., pool of marriageable men) and cultural (e.g., familism) factors in the marriage transitions of 3,853 Mexican American, African American, and Anglo women. The results support three main conclusions. First, similarities are outweighed by differences in the marriage process across these groups. Second, cult ural indicators do not explain group differences. Third, the unique as pects of the marriage process among Mexican Americans cannot be fully understood without taking their generational heterogeneity into accoun t.