Transitions to the First Marriage between the Foreign-Born Population in Spain: A Process of Integration in a Recent Destination Society

Daniela Vono, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Luis Alberto Del Rey Poveda, University of Salamanca

The main objective of this study is to analyze the transition to the first marriage of immigrants who arrived as singles in Spain, considering the especificities by sex. The data source is the Spanish National Immigration Survey from 2007, the first national database that allows the study of immigrants from a longitudinal perspective. It was applied a discrete-time logistic model to the five most represented immigrant groups from developing countries – Colombia, Ecuador, Morocco, Romania and Argentina. Results show different patterns of marriage formation depending on the country of birth of the partner and the sex of the respondend, the importance of the lengh of stay in Spain and the small significance of individual characteristics, specially the level of education.