TY  - JOUR
A1  - Qian, Yue
A1  - Qian, Zhenchao
T1  - The gender divide in urban China: Singlehood and assortative mating by age and education
Y1  - 2014/12/04
JF  - Demographic Research
JO  - Demographic Research
SN  - 1435-9871
SP  - 1337
EP  - 1364
DO  - 10.4054/DemRes.2014.31.45
VL  - 31
IS  - 45
UR  - https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol31/45/
L1  - https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol31/45/31-45.pdf
L2  - https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol31/45/31-45.pdf
L3  - https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol31/45/files/readme.31-45.txt
L3  - https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol31/45/files/demographic-research.31-45.zip
N2  - Objective: Chinese media labels highly educated, urban women who are still single in their late 20s as "leftover ladies". We investigate whether indeed highly educated women are less likely to marry than their less-educated counterparts, and how assortative mating patterns by age and education play a role in singleness. 

Methods: We use data from the urban samples of the Chinese General Social Surveys in the 2000s. In the analysis we calculate marriage rates to examine the likelihood of entry into marriage, and then apply log-linear models to investigate the assortative mating patterns by age and education. 

Results: We find that as education increases, the likelihood of marriage increases among men but decreases among women, especially among those over age 30. The results from log-linear models reveal that more marriages involve better-educated, older men and less-educated, younger women. 

Conclusions: We argue that persistent traditional gender roles, accompanied by the rapid rise in women's education, contribute to low marriage rates among older, highly educated women. 

ER  -