• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

IZA Newsroom

IZA – Institute of Labor Economics

  • Home
  • Archive
  • Press Lounge
  • DE
  • EN
ResearchNovember 24, 2016

Mixing kids in school leads to more mixed-race adult relationships

Does the racial mix of students’ classmates affect their behavior later on in life? A new IZA Discussion Paper by Luca Paolo Merlino, Max Friedrich Steinhardt and Liam Wren-Lewis compares American students, contrasting those who happen to be in an age group with fewer blacks in their class compared to other classes in the school.

The study finds that white students with more black classmates are more likely to cohabit and have children with a black partner later on in life. The effect is driven by a change in racial attitudes: These students are less prejudiced, and as adults they are less likely to think that race is an important factor within a relationship.

Class composition thus affects relationships formed many years after school, implying that the increase in mixed-race relationships is not simply driven by students meeting more black partners in school or via school friends.

The results suggest that racial diversity in schools can help lead to positive changes in attitudes and behavior towards members of other races.

Image source: pixabay

IZA Discussion Paper No. 10319 More than Just Friends? School Peers and Adult Interracial Relationships Luca Paolo Merlino, Max F. Steinhardt, Liam Wren-Lewis

Share this article

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share via e-mail
  • high school
  • race
  • racial attitudes
  • racial diversity
  • relationships
  • social integration
  • social interaction
  • tolerance
  • Liam Wren-Lewis
  • Luca Paolo Merlino
  • Max F. Steinhardt
Previous Post
Shuffle
Next Post

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

COVID-19 and the Labor Market

covid-19.iza.org

Recent Posts

  • June 24, 2022

    Minimum wage increases lead to substantial declines in vacancy postings
  • May 23, 2022

    Minimum wage contributed to rise in solo self-employment
  • May 17, 2022

    Employer market power in Silicon Valley

Related Content

  • October 13, 2020

    School re-openings after summer breaks in Germany did not increase SARS-CoV-2 cases
  • November 29, 2013

    Learning from nuns: Catholic schools are not better than the rest
  • June 21, 2017

    The economic value of Breaking Bad: How misbehavior in school pays off for some kids
  • 
  • 
  • Archive
  • 
  • Research
  • 
  • Mixing kids in school leads to more mixed-race adult relationships

© 2013–2022 Deutsche Post STIFTUNGImprint | Privacy PolicyIZA