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Educational Homogamy and Assortative Mating Have Not Increased

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  • Rania Gihleb
  • Kevin Lang

Abstract

Some economists have argued that assortative mating between men and women has increased over the last several decades, thereby contributing to increased family income inequality. Sociologists have argued that educational homogamy has increased. We clarify the relation between the two and, using both the Current Population Surveys and the decennial Censuses/American Community Survey, show that neither is correct. The former is based on the use of inappropriate statistical techniques. Both are sensitive to how educational categories are chosen. We also find no evidence that the correlation between spouses' potential earnings has changed dramatically.

Suggested Citation

  • Rania Gihleb & Kevin Lang, 2016. "Educational Homogamy and Assortative Mating Have Not Increased," NBER Working Papers 22927, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22927
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    1. Paserman, Daniele & Olivetti, Claudia & Salisbury, Laura & Weber, E. Anna, 2020. "Who Married, (to) Whom, and Where? Trends in Marriage in the United States, 1850-1940," CEPR Discussion Papers 15484, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Bernt Bratsberg & Simen Markussen & Oddbjørn Raaum & Knut Røed & Ole Røgeberg, 2023. "Trends in Assortative Mating and Offspring Outcomes," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(651), pages 928-950.
    3. Shao-Hsun Keng & Peter F. Orazem, 2019. "Performance pay, the marriage market and rising income inequality in Taiwan," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 969-992, September.
    4. Prarthna Agarwal Goel, "undated". "Female Education, Marital Assortative Mating and Dowry: Theory and Evidence from India," Centre for International Trade and Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Discussion Papers 19-05, Centre for International Trade and Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.
    5. , Stone Center & Yonzan, Nishant, 2020. "Assortative Mating and Labor Income Inequality: Evidence from Fifty Years of Coupling in the U.S," SocArXiv 4whvs, Center for Open Science.
    6. Daysal, N. Meltem & Elder, Todd E. & Hellerstein, Judith K. & Imberman, Scott A. & Orsini, Chiara, 2021. "Parental Skills, Assortative Mating, and the Incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorder," IZA Discussion Papers 14227, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. George-Levi Gayle & Prasanthi Ramakrishnan & Mariana Odio-Zúñiga, 2021. "Work, Leisure, and Family: From the Silent Generation to Millennials," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 103(4), pages 385-424, October.
    8. Brian Goesling & Hande Inanc & Angela Rachidi, "undated". "Success Sequence: A Synthesis of the Literature," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 726444f0055c41fca02d9cf39, Mathematica Policy Research.
    9. Jonathan Davis & Bhashkar Mazumder, 2017. "The Decline in Intergenerational Mobility After 1980," Working Paper Series WP-2017-5, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, revised 14 Jan 2022.
    10. Helena Holmlund, 2022. "How Much Does Marital Sorting Contribute to Intergenerational Socioeconomic Persistence?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(2), pages 372-399.
    11. Omoniyi Alimi & David C Maré & Jacques Poot, 2018. "Who partners up? Educational assortative matching and the distribution of income in New Zealand," Working Papers 18_13, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    12. Sonia Jaffe & Simon Weber, 2019. "The effect of meeting rates on matching outcomes," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 67(2), pages 363-378, March.
    13. Barban, Nicola & De Cao, Elisabetta & Oreffice, Sonia & Quintana-Domeque, Climent, 2021. "The effect of education on spousal education: A genetic approach," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    14. Shuaizhang Feng & Gaojie Tang, 2019. "Accounting For Urban China'S Rising Income Inequality: The Roles Of Labor Market, Human Capital, And Marriage Market Factors," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 57(2), pages 997-1015, April.
    15. Lauren HOEHN-VELASCO & Jacob PENGLASE, 2023. "Changes in assortative matching and educational inequality: evidence from marriage and birth records in Mexico," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 89(4), pages 587-607, December.
    16. Pierre-Andre Chiappori & Monica Costa Dias & Costas Meghir, 2021. "The Measuring of Assortativeness in Marriage," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 2316, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    17. Gutierrez, Federico H., 2019. "A Simple Solution to the Problem of Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives in Choo and Siow Marriage Market Model," GLO Discussion Paper Series 387, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

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