IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/dem/demres/v14y2006i17.html

Changes in educational assortative mating in contemporary Spain

Author

Listed:
  • Albert Esteve

    (Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics (CED))

  • Clara Cortina

    (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)

Abstract

This article analyses patterns and trends in educational assortative mating of the Spanish women born between 1920 and 1969 using data from the 2001 Spanish Census. By means of loglinear models we examine the following issues: i) intensity and changes in educational assortative mating patterns; ii) crossing barriers across educational thresholds and iii) degree of symmetry between male and female patterns. Results show that education matters in the composition of unions: people tend to marry assortatively according to their education. However this pattern clearly differs across cohorts and between educational groups, being higher for the extreme categories. The most notable trends are 1) the increasing intensity of homogamy among the more educated and 2) the incipient extinction of the traditional female hypergamic pattern.

Suggested Citation

  • Albert Esteve & Clara Cortina, 2006. "Changes in educational assortative mating in contemporary Spain," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 14(17), pages 405-428.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:14:y:2006:i:17
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2006.14.17
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol14/17/14-17.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4054/DemRes.2006.14.17?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1.
    2. Gunn Elisabeth Birkelund & Johan Heldal, 2003. "Who marries whom? Educational homogamy in Norway," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 8(1), pages 1-30.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Grebol, Ricard & Machelett, Margarita & Stuhler, Jan & Villanueva, Ernesto, 2025. "Assortative Mating, Inequality, and Rising Educational Mobility in Spain," IZA Discussion Papers 18351, IZA Network @ LISER.
    2. Dávid Erát, 2021. "Educational assortative mating and the decline of hypergamy in 27 European countries: An examination of trends through cohorts," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 44(7), pages 157-188.
    3. Hanna Kröger & Sandra Schaffner, 2011. "The Intensive and Extensive Margin of European Labour Supply," Ruhr Economic Papers 0291, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    4. Yiru Wang, 2023. "Famine and matching by socioeconomic status—evidence from the Great Chinese Famine," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 855-912, September.
    5. Yolien De Hauw & André Grow & Jan Van Bavel, 2017. "The Reversed Gender Gap in Education and Assortative Mating in Europe," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(4), pages 445-474, October.
    6. Albert Esteve & Luis López-Ruiz, 2010. "Union Formation Implications of Race and Gender Gaps in Educational Attainment: The Case of Latin America," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 29(5), pages 609-637, October.
    7. Jordi Gumà & Jeroen Spijker, 2020. "Until Death Do Us Part. The Influence of Own and Partner’s Socioeconomic Status on the Health of Spanish Middle-Aged Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-11, June.
    8. Kröger, Hanna & Schaffner, Sandra, 2011. "The Intensive and Extensive Margin of European Labour Supply," Ruhr Economic Papers 291, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    9. Ulysse Lawogni, 2022. "Marriage Surplus and Educational Endogamy in France," Working Papers hal-03835735, HAL.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David Monaghan, 2017. "The Impact of Economic Inequality and Gender Parity on Educational Assortative Mating: Evidence from the Luxembourg Income Study," LIS Working papers 607, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    2. Dávid Erát, 2021. "Educational assortative mating and the decline of hypergamy in 27 European countries: An examination of trends through cohorts," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 44(7), pages 157-188.
    3. Martin Dribe & Paul Nystedt, 2013. "Educational Homogamy and Gender-Specific Earnings: Sweden, 1990–2009," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(4), pages 1197-1216, August.
    4. Alessandro Cigno, 2007. "A Theoretical Analysis of the Effects of Legislation on Marriage, Fertility, Domestic Division of Labour, and the Education of Children," CESifo Working Paper Series 2143, CESifo.
    5. Bosede Awoyemi & Jacob Novignon, 2014. "Demand for abortion and post abortion care in Ibadan, Nigeria," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-9, December.
    6. Munyanyi, Musharavati Ephraim, 2012. "Education and Earnings nexus in Zimbabwe after the 2005-2008 hyper-inflationary period: An empirical analysis," MPRA Paper 75112, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Matthew J. Hill, 2014. "Easterlin revisted: Relative income and the baby boom," Economics Working Papers 1453, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    8. Lamia Kandil & Hélène Perivier, 2017. "La division sexuée du travail dans les couples selon le statut marital en France - une étude à partir des enquêtes emploi du temps de 1985-1986, 1998-1999, et 2009-2010," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2017-03, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE).
    9. Haruvy, Ernan & Roth, Alvin E. & Unver, M. Utku, 2006. "The dynamics of law clerk matching: An experimental and computational investigation of proposals for reform of the market," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 457-486, March.
    10. repec:plo:pone00:0160320 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. David J. G. Slusky & Donna K. Ginther, 2021. "Did Medicaid expansion reduce medical divorce?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1139-1174, December.
    12. Robert Kaestner, 1995. "The Effects of Cocaine and Marijuana Use on Marriage and Marital Stability," NBER Working Papers 5038, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Yan Yu, 2015. "The Male Breadwinner/Female Homemaker Model and Perceived Marital Stability: A Comparison of Chinese Wives in the United States and Urban China," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 34-47, March.
    14. Kota Ogasawara & Mizuki Komura, 2022. "Consequences of war: Japan’s demographic transition and the marriage market," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(3), pages 1037-1069, July.
    15. Allan Puur & Leen Rahnu & Liili Abuladze & Luule Sakkeus & Sergei Zakharov, 2017. "Childbearing among first- and second-generation Russians in Estonia against the background of the sending and host countries," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(41), pages 1209-1254.
    16. Raphaela Hyee, 2011. "Education in a Marriage Market Model without Commitment," Working Papers 683, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    17. Maria De Paola & Roberto Nisticò & Vincenzo Scoppa, 2024. "Workplace Peer Effects in Fertility Decisions," CSEF Working Papers 714, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy, revised 01 Sep 2025.
    18. Francesca Marchetta & David E. Sahn, 2016. "The Role of Education and Family Background in Marriage, Childbearing, and Labor Market Participation in Senegal," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(2), pages 369-403.
    19. Horioka, Charles Yuji, 1990. "Why is Japan's household saving rate so high? A literature survey," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 49-92, March.
    20. Sunnee Billingsley, 2010. "The Post-Communist Fertility Puzzle," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 29(2), pages 193-231, April.
    21. Kunwon Ahn & John V. Winters, 2026. "Causal effects of education on marriage," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(3), pages 321-335, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:14:y:2006:i:17. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Editorial Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.