Partnership Quality and Stability among Young Refugees in Germany

Jana Kuhlemann, Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES), University of Mannheim
Stefanie Heyne, MZES
Irena Kogan , MZES
Tamara Gutfleisch, University of Mannheim

The formation and stability of romantic partnerships represent key demographic processes that shape the broader integration of forced migrants into host societies. Young, single refugee men who arrived in Germany in 2015/16 and upon arrival were confronted with only small co-ethnic communities, likely sought partners among members of the receiving society in the following years. Unions with members of the receiving population are considered a strong indicator and driver of immigrants’ social integration. Yet, such exogamous unions are more prone to conflict, low partnership satisfaction, and higher partnership dissolution compared to endogamous partnerships. Against this background the present study examines the partnership quality and stability of exogamous and endogamous unions of young refugees in Germany. Preliminary analyses using two waves of a novel dataset on the partnership formation of young male Syrian and Afghan refugees from the 2015/16 influx in Germany (PARFORM) show that male refugees in exogamous—compared to endogamous—partnerships report lower partnership satisfaction, but also lower partnership conflict. We also find that refugees’ exogamous partnerships are not more likely to break up between waves than endogamous partnerships. However, refugees in exogamous partnerships are more likely to report an intention to end the current partnership in wave 2.

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 Presented in Session 114. Mixed Families and Migrant Populations