scholarly journals Marital Fertility and Educational Assortative Mating before, during, and after the Baby Boom in Belgium

2016 ◽  
Vol 132 (2) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eli Nomes ◽  
Jan Van Bavel
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fumiya Uchikoshi

Prior studies have argued that changes in nuptial behavior are the main contributors to the decline in fertility in Japan and educational gradients in fertility are negligible. Recently, however, changes in marital fertility have also contributed to the decline in fertility. While the influence of women's educational attainment on fertility has only been paid attention, since fertility involves two partners and so it is also possible to focus on the influence of the male partner’s social status. Moreover, not only can each partner’s socioeconomic status, but also their combining as a couple (assortative mating), influence fertility. In spite of theoretical significance to examine the relationship between educational assortative mating and fertility, scholars face a methodological problem in examining an interaction of two variables. In this study, applying diagonal reference model to event history analysis, I estimated the effect of educational assortative mating on having first and second childbirth in Japan. A series of analysis revealed that homogamy couples of the high educated are less likely to have their second child than other types of educational coupling.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0192513X2098449
Author(s):  
Johannes Stauder ◽  
Tom Kossow

This study aims to determine to what extent the opportunities and restrictions of the partner market influence educational assortative mating. It also analyzes the interplay between the opportunity structure and preferences. Matching district-based partner market indicators to heterosexual couples when they move in together based on the German Socio-Economic Panel, we find strong effects of the opportunity structure on educational homogamy. The results further imply that the density of the supply of potential partners is more important for educational assortative mating than imbalanced supply and competition. While the impact of partner market imbalances on assortative mating is a mere effect of the opportunity structure, the effects of the partner market density of relevant and available partners in space weakly imply that homophile and maximization preferences are simultaneously at work.


2019 ◽  
Vol 127 (6) ◽  
pp. 2795-2835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lasse Eika ◽  
Magne Mogstad ◽  
Basit Zafar

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Avril Macfarlane

<p>There is a growing concern internationally about levels of income inequality, and the negative effect this has on the functioning of societies both in terms of productivity and social harmony. An unexpected contributor to inequality is assortative mating - the phenomenon of “like marrying like”. Educational attainment is highly correlated with income; when two highly educated people partner and form a household they are more likely to appear at the top of the household income distribution, while couples with only primary or incomplete secondary education appear at the bottom. Therefore the greater the propensity to mate assortatively the more unequal the distribution of household income becomes.   I ask two questions of the relationship between educational assortative mating and household income inequality. Firstly, how do countries (in Europe) differ in their degree of educational assortative mating? Secondly, what is the evidence that such differences are reflected in indicators of household income inequality?   My study differs from the prevailing approaches to this question by taking a geographical approach. Instead of comparing a single country over time and monitoring the correspondence between assortative mating and income inequality, I compare a wide range of countries, using a uniform instrument, at one point in time. In order to do so I draw on the unit records of 29 countries from the European Social Survey administered in 2012.   From these unit record data I have been able to identify two important patterns. Firstly, there is a clear presence of educational assortative mating in each country. However, the degree differs and it does so primarily as a reflection of the overall level of education in the country. Rising levels of education lower the returns for education, in turn making assortative mating comparatively less attractive. As a result, the level of assortative mating, compared to what would be expected under random conditions, is lower in highly educated nations. The lowered level of assortative mating in highly educated nations reduces the barriers to social mobility through marriage for those without university educations. Consequently, household income inequality is seen to be intrinsically related to assortative mating, although the outcomes can be mitigated by redistribution policies.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Avril Macfarlane

<p>There is a growing concern internationally about levels of income inequality, and the negative effect this has on the functioning of societies both in terms of productivity and social harmony. An unexpected contributor to inequality is assortative mating - the phenomenon of “like marrying like”. Educational attainment is highly correlated with income; when two highly educated people partner and form a household they are more likely to appear at the top of the household income distribution, while couples with only primary or incomplete secondary education appear at the bottom. Therefore the greater the propensity to mate assortatively the more unequal the distribution of household income becomes.   I ask two questions of the relationship between educational assortative mating and household income inequality. Firstly, how do countries (in Europe) differ in their degree of educational assortative mating? Secondly, what is the evidence that such differences are reflected in indicators of household income inequality?   My study differs from the prevailing approaches to this question by taking a geographical approach. Instead of comparing a single country over time and monitoring the correspondence between assortative mating and income inequality, I compare a wide range of countries, using a uniform instrument, at one point in time. In order to do so I draw on the unit records of 29 countries from the European Social Survey administered in 2012.   From these unit record data I have been able to identify two important patterns. Firstly, there is a clear presence of educational assortative mating in each country. However, the degree differs and it does so primarily as a reflection of the overall level of education in the country. Rising levels of education lower the returns for education, in turn making assortative mating comparatively less attractive. As a result, the level of assortative mating, compared to what would be expected under random conditions, is lower in highly educated nations. The lowered level of assortative mating in highly educated nations reduces the barriers to social mobility through marriage for those without university educations. Consequently, household income inequality is seen to be intrinsically related to assortative mating, although the outcomes can be mitigated by redistribution policies.</p>


2003 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
HAMILTON R. CORREIA

Studies of human mate choice have been based almost exclusively on stated preferences and personal advertisements, and the external validity of such studies has therefore been questioned. In the present study, reallife matings based on a large representative sample of newly wed couples in 1998 (n=66,598) were analysed according to educational assortative mating. The results demonstrate a strong educational homogamy in this national Portuguese sample. However, men tend to marry women who are slightly more educated than themselves. The results are compared with those of a modern society (US, 1940–87) and a traditional society (Kipsigis, 1952–91). Since educational attainment is strongly associated with social status and intelligence, these results are discussed in an evolutionary perspective.


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