In Italy, marriages between Italian citizens and foreign migrants are considered both a marker and a driver of integration. For many migrants, however, they are also an opportunity to acquire legal status and regular access to the labour market. This column uses data on 3.6 million marriages and over 200,000 separations in Italy to examine how EU enlargements altered marriage incentives and dynamics. Following the enlargements, mixed marriages between Italian citizens and migrants from new EU member states declined by 40%, supporting the idea that acquiring legal status reduces the benefits of marriage between migrants and natives.
In recent decades, Europe has experienced an unprecedented wave of migration, transforming the cultural and social landscape of host countries. In Italy, immigration has profoundly altered the dynamics of the marriage market, posing not only economic but also cultural challenges, which are crucially interdependent. Marriages between Italian citizens and foreign migrants are often considered a clear marker of integration (Gordon 1964, Kalmijn 1994, 1998, Algan et al. 2012, Mazumder et al. 2018) and can also accelerate this process (Meng and Gregory 2005, Bisin and Verdier 2000, Bisin and Tura 2019). For many migrants, however, marriage to an Italian citizen represents not only an emotional bond but also an opportunity to acquire legal status and regular access to the labour market. Hence, economic and cultural incentives are deeply intertwined, highlighting the need to better understand their interplay to design effective policies.
What happens, then, when immigration policies change the rules of the game? How do these changes affect the marriage choices and the stability of mixed couples? In a recent paper (Adda et al. 2025), we provide surprising answers to these questions, revealing how access to legal status and cultural distance influence marriages and separations between natives and migrants.
A new perspective on mixed marriages
Our study analyses data on 3.6 million marriages and over 200,000 separations in Italy between 1998 and 2012, focusing on the effects of the EU’s progressive enlargements in 2004 and 2007. These enlargements granted legal status to millions of Eastern European citizens, significantly altering marriage incentives and dynamics in Italy.
To account for variations in the number of potential marriage partners in the market, we use gains from marriage as our primary variable of interest, following the seminal work of Choo and Siow (2006). Specifically, we compute gains from marriage between males from country x and females from country y by rescaling the number of observed marriages between type-x males and type-y females relative to the number of potential matches between the same groups.
Figure 1 illustrates the gains from marriage with natives for different groups of immigrants between 1998 and 2012. The figure shows that gains from marriage between natives and new EU citizens were on an upward trend until the announcements of the 2004 and 2007 enlargements, after which they declined. In contrast, gains from marriage among natives experienced a steady but gradual decline over the same period.
Figure 1 Gains from marriage, heterogamous couples formed by natives and immigrants, by area of origin of the foreign spouse
Figure 1 Gains from marriage, heterogamous couples formed by natives and immigrants, by area of origin of the foreign spouse
Notes: The graphs plot the gains from marriage over the period 1998-2012 by immigrants' area of origin and gender of the foreign spouse. The shaded areas denote the periods between the announcement and implementation of the EU enlargements. Source: ISTAT, marriage records from vital statistics registries (1998-2012) and individual Census data.
This evidence supports the idea that acquiring legal status reduces the benefits of marriage between migrants and natives. Using difference-in-differences and event study techniques, we provide robust evidence that access to legal status significantly decreased the likelihood of migrants marrying Italian citizens. Following the EU enlargements, mixed marriages between Italian citizens and migrants from new EU member states declined by 40%. This effect was particularly pronounced among Eastern European women, who increasingly chose to marry within their cultural group after gaining the right to work and reside in Italy. This finding highlights cultural distance as a key determinant of marriage choices, while economic and institutional incentives help bridge this perceived divide.
At the same time, separations between new EU immigrants and natives spiked following the EU enlargements. Specifically, we estimate that separations among mixed couples formed before enlargement increased by 20%, suggesting that the recognition of legal status reduced the incentive to maintain the marriage bond. Beyond the number of marriages, legalisation also influenced cohabitation patterns between foreign migrants and Italian citizens. After EU enlargement, couples consisting of new EU citizens and natives experienced birth rates that were 5 to 10 percentage points higher than those of other mixed couples. This suggests that immigration policies shape not only the number of marriages but also their stability and quality, influencing the perceived value of marriage and investment in family life.
Trade-offs in marriage matching
In addition to cultural origins, individuals also match on other observable characteristics, such as age and education. Figure 2 shows the average age (top row) and education (bottom row) of spouses in different types of marriages during the period 1998-2002 (i.e. before the EU enlargements). The first graph displays the average age of spouses when both come from the same country, categorised by area of origin. On average, husbands are two to four years older than wives. This age gap increases significantly for intermarriages where the husband is native and the wife is foreign (second graph), while the opposite occurs in intermarriages with native wives and foreign husbands (third graph). Regarding education, wives tend to be slightly more educated than their husbands (fourth graph). This education gap widens in intermarriages with native husbands and foreign wives, but narrows in intermarriages with native wives and foreign husbands.
Figure 2 Spouses' characteristics in homogamous marriages and intermarriages, before enlargement periods (1998-2002)
Figure 2 Spouses' characteristics in homogamous marriages and intermarriages, before enlargement periods (1998-2002)
Notes: The graphs show the average age (top row) and education (bottom row) of husbands and wives in homogamous marriages (left column) and intermarriages (centre and right columns), by area of origin. 90% confidence intervals are also reported. Source: ISTAT, marriage records from vital statistics registries (1998-2002).
This analysis demonstrates that sorting in the marriage market is multidimensional, with individuals making trade-offs between various characteristics when choosing a spouse. To the extent that individuals generally prefer younger and more educated spouses, this evidence suggests that immigrants may be trading off characteristics such as age and education for the benefits of acquiring legal status.
To more precisely quantify the role of legal status, we estimate a marriage-matching model that explicitly considers the trade-offs between legal status and cultural distance. Our findings reveal that mixed marriages incur a marital surplus penalty, which varies significantly across different nationality groups. We quantify several trade-offs along observable characteristics and show that the effect of legal status on marital surplus is substantial enough to shift marriage patterns away from positive assortative mating, thereby influencing intermarriage decisions. Legal status incentives are strong enough to overcome nationality-based homophily, but this effect is primarily observed among European partners. The influence of legal status is comparable to a seven-year age difference between spouses or a six-year disparity in education.
Beyond romantic love
Our study demonstrates that access to legal status affects not only economic integration but also migrants' personal and family decisions. While legalisation facilitates labour market integration, it reduces the number of mixed marriages, potentially slowing cultural integration.
The implications of these findings are profound. As debates on immigration and cultural integration intensify, our results call for a careful balance between granting legal rights and fostering long-term social cohesion. The analysis reveals the complex nature of legalisation policies and assesses their spillover effects on other important choices that both natives and migrants make. Love can break down many barriers, but when intertwined with issues of legal status and cultural distance, the path to full integration becomes much more complex and intriguing to explore.
References
Adda, J, P Pinotti and G Tura (2025), "There’s more to marriage than love: the effect of legal status and cultural distance on intermarriages and separations", Journal of Political Economy 133(4): 1276–1333.
Algan, Y, A Bisin, A Manning, and T Verdier (2012), Cultural Integration of Immigrants in Europe, Oxford University Press.
Bisin, A and T Verdier (2000), "Beyond the Melting Pot: Cultural Transmission, Marriage, and the Evolution of Ethnic and Religious Traits", Quarterly Journal of Economics 115(3): 955–988.
Choo, E and A Siow (2006), "Who Marries Whom and Why", Journal of Political Economy 114(1): 175–201.
Gordon, M (1964), Assimilation in American Life, Oxford University Press.
Kalmijn, M (1994), "Assortative Mating by Cultural and Economic Occupational Status", American Journal of Sociology 100(2): 422–452.
Kalmijn, M (1998), "Intermarriage and Homogamy: Causes, Patterns, Trends", Annual Review of Sociology 24(1): 395–421.
