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Trends in Economic Homogamy: Changes in Assortative Mating or the Division of Labor in Marriage?

ABSTRACT: The growing economic resemblance of spouses has contributed to rising inequality by increasing the number of couples in which there are two high- or two low-earning partners. The dominant explanation for this trend is increased assortative mating. Previous research has primarily relied on cross-sectional data and thus has been unable to disentangle changes in assortative mating from changes in the division of spouses' paid labor-a potentially key mechanism given the dramatic rise in wives' labor supply. We use data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to decompose the increase in the correlation between spouses' earnings and its contribution to inequality between 1970 and 2013 into parts due to (a) changes in assortative mating, and (b) changes in the division of paid labor. Contrary to what has often been assumed, the rise of economic homogamy and its contribution to inequality is largely attributable to changes in the division of paid labor rather than changes in sorting on earnings or earnings potential. Our findings indicate that the rise of economic homogamy cannot be explained by hypotheses centered on meeting and matching opportunities, and they show where in this process inequality is generated and where it is not.

SUBMITTER: Gonalons-Pons P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6048969 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Trends in Economic Homogamy: Changes in Assortative Mating or the Division of Labor in Marriage?

Gonalons-Pons Pilar P Schwartz Christine R CR

Demography 20170601 3

The growing economic resemblance of spouses has contributed to rising inequality by increasing the number of couples in which there are two high- or two low-earning partners. The dominant explanation for this trend is increased assortative mating. Previous research has primarily relied on cross-sectional data and thus has been unable to disentangle changes in assortative mating from changes in the division of spouses' paid labor-a potentially key mechanism given the dramatic rise in wives' labor ...[more]

PMID: 28455620

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Project description:BackgroundExisting knowledge has established the connection between maternal education and child survival, but little is known about how educational assortative mating (EAM), relates to childhood mortality. We attempt to examine this association in the context of Nigeria.MethodsData was obtained from the 2008, 2013, and 2018 waves of the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, which is a cross-sectional study. The sample includes the analysis of 72,527 newborns within the 5 years preceding each survey. The dependent variables include the risk of a newborn dying before 12 months of age (infant mortality), or between the age of 12-59 months (child mortality). From the perspective of the mother, the independent variable, EAM, includes four categories (high-education homogamy, low-education homogamy, hypergamy, and hypogamy). The Cox proportional hazard regression was employed for multivariate analyses, while the estimation of mortality rates across the spectrum of EAM was obtained through the synthetic cohort technique.ResultsThe risk of childhood mortality varied across the spectrum of EAM and was particularly lowest among those with high-education homogamy. Compared to children of mothers in low-education homogamy, children of mothers in high-education homogamy had 25, 31 to 19% significantly less likelihood of infant mortality, and 34, 41, and 57% significantly less likelihood of child mortality in 2008, 2013 and 2018 survey data, respectively. Also, compared to children of mothers in hypergamy, children of mothers in hypogamous unions had 20, 12, and 11% less likelihood of infant mortality, and 27, 36, and 1% less likelihood of child mortality across 2008, 2013 and 2018 surveys, respectively, although not significant at p < 0.05. Both infant and child mortality rates were highest in low-education homogamy, as expected, lowest in high-education homogamy, and lower in hypogamy than in hypergamy. Furthermore, the trends in the rate declined between 2008 and 2018, and were higher in 2018 than in 2013.ConclusionThis indicates that, beyond the absolute level of education, the similarities or dissimilarities in partners' education may have consequences for child survival, alluding to the family system theory. Future studies could investigate how this association varies when marital status is put into consideration.

Project description:BackgroundSex pheromone communication systems may be a major force driving moth speciation by causing behavioral reproductive isolation via assortative meeting of conspecific individuals. The 'E' and 'Z' pheromone races of the European corn borer (ECB) are a textbook example in this respect. 'Z' females produce and 'Z' males preferentially respond to a 'Z' pheromone blend, while the 'E' race communicates via an 'E' blend. Both races do not freely hybridize in nature and their populations are genetically differentiated. A straightforward explanation would be that their reproductive isolation is a mere consequence of "assortative meeting" resulting from their different pheromones specifically attracting males towards same-race females at long range. However, previous laboratory experiments and those performed here show that even when moths are paired in a small box - i.e., when the meeting between sexual partners is forced - inter-race couples still have a lower mating success than intra-race ones. Hence, either the difference in attractivity of E vs. Z pheromones for males of either race still holds at short distance or the reproductive isolation between E and Z moths may not only be favoured by assortative meeting, but must also result from an additional mechanism ensuring significant assortative mating at close range. Here, we test whether this close-range mechanism is linked to the E/Z female sex pheromone communication system.Methodology/principal findingsUsing crosses and backcrosses of E and Z strains, we found no difference in mating success between full-sisters emitting different sex pheromones. Conversely, the mating success of females with identical pheromone types but different coefficients of relatedness to the two parental strains was significantly different, and was higher when their genetic background was closer to that of their male partner's pheromone race.Conclusions/significanceWe conclude that the close-range mechanism ensuring assortative mating between the E and Z ECB pheromone races is unrelated to the difference in female sex pheromone. Although the nature of this mechanism remains elusive, our results show that it is expressed in females, acts at close range, segregates independently of the autosome carrying Pher and of both sex chromosomes, and is widely distributed since it occurs both in France and in the USA.

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Trends in Economic Homogamy: Changes in Assortative Mating or the Division of Labor in Marriage?

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Trends in Economic Homogamy: Changes in Assortative Mating or the Division of Labor in Marriage?

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