The Intersection of Gender and Citizenship in Mixed Marriage Models

Abstract

This article is based on the presentation ‘The Intersection of Gender and Citizenship in Mixed Marriage Patterns: Trends and Dynamics in Lithuania’ given at the 16th National Conference of the Lithuanian Sociological Society “Global Challenges and Future Societies”’ (Egertė 2024: 59). The article analyses the rates of mixed marriages based on the statistical data on the marriages of Lithuanian and foreign citizens, and presents the trends and changes in these marriages in Lithuania between 2000 and 2023, focusing on gender and citizenship. World events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, Russia’s war in Ukraine and immigration are changing the trends and patterns of mixed marriages. The results of the study show that in the Lithuanian context, the decision to enter into a mixed marriage is not a typical phenomenon. From a gender perspective, it can be said that in the period from 2000 to 2021, marriages with foreign citizens were more typical for women with the Lithuanian citizenship than for men with the Lithuanian citizenship. Women are also more likely than men to marry citizens of European Union countries and citizens of geographically and culturally more distant countries. These unequal patterns of marital behaviour with respect to gender reflect the different mechanisms determining the marriages of men and women with the Lithuanian citizenship.