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Changes in Assortative Matching and Inequality in Income: Evidence for the UK

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  • Pierre-André Chiappori
  • Monica Costa Dias
  • Sam Crossman
  • Costas Meghir

Abstract

The extent to which like-with like marry is important for inequality as well as for the outcomes of children that result from the union. In this paper we present evidence on changes in assortative mating and its implications for household inequality in the UK. Our approach contrasts with others in the literature in that it is consistent with an underlying model of the marriage market. We argue that a key advantage of this approach is that it creates a direct connection between changes in assortativeness in marriage and changes in the value of marriage for the various possible matches by education group. Our empirical results do not show a clear direction in the change in assortativeness in the UK, between the birth cohorts of 1945-54 and 1965-74. We find that changes in assortativeness pushed income inequality up slightly, but that the strong changes in education attainment across the two cohorts contributed to scale down inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierre-André Chiappori & Monica Costa Dias & Sam Crossman & Costas Meghir, 2020. "Changes in Assortative Matching and Inequality in Income: Evidence for the UK," NBER Working Papers 26933, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26933
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Bart Capéau & André Decoster & Bram De Rock & Jonas Vanderkelen, 2024. "Did Belgium withstand the Storm of Rising Inequalities? Income Inequality in Belgium, 1985-2020," Working Papers ECARES 2024-05, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    2. Pierre-André Chiappori & Monica Costa Dias & Costas Meghir, 2020. "Changes in Assortative Matching: Theory and Evidence for the US," NBER Working Papers 26932, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Iryna Kyzyma & Alessio Fusco & Philippe Van Kerm, 2022. "Distributional Change: Assessing the Contribution of Household Income Sources," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(1), pages 158-184, February.
    4. İşcan, Talan B. & Lim, Kyoung Mook, 2022. "Structural transformation and inequality: The case of South Korea," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    5. Benny, Liza & Bhalotra, Sonia & Fernández, Manuel, 2021. "Occupation flexibility and the graduate gender wage gap in the UK," ISER Working Paper Series 2021-05, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    6. Li Han & Xinzheng Shi & Ming-ang Zhang, 2022. "How Does Matching Uncertainty Affect Marital Surplus? Theory and Evidence from China," HKUST CEP Working Papers Series 202202, HKUST Center for Economic Policy.
    7. Arnaud Dupuy & Simon Weber, 2022. "Marriage Market Counterfactuals Using Matching Models," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(353), pages 29-43, January.
    8. Bram De Rock & Mariia Kovaleva & Tom Potoms, 2023. "A Spouse and a House are all we need? Housing Demand, Labor Supply and Divorce over the Lifecycle," Working Papers ECARES 2023-18, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    9. 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.
    10. Echeverría, Lucía & Gimenez-Nadal, J. Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto, 2023. "Commuting in dual-earner households: International gender differences with time use surveys," Nülan. Deposited Documents 3932, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales, Centro de Documentación.
    11. Cezar Santos & Michèle Tertilt, 2023. "How Families Matter for Understanding Economic Inequality," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2023_456, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

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