Ethnoracial Transformations? Linking Administrative Data to Explain Changes in Identification

Abstract

We link the 2010 Census microdata to the 2010–2020 American Community Surveys and Social Security Administration records to test patterns of ethnoracial identification change across this decade. After documenting substantial ethnoracial stability in some categories, we find substantial flows between many racial categories, more movement into Hispanic identification than movement out of the Hispanic category, foreign-born Hispanic multiracial respondents are 14 percentage points (40 percent) more likely to identify later as Hispanic White than their native-born counterparts, and foreign-born non-Hispanic multiracial respondents are 19 percentage points (90 percent) less likely to identify later as non-Hispanic White than native-born. Higher income and education are both associated with less racial identification change. Change also varies by household type.