Volume 22 - Article 24 | Pages 733–770  

Trends in educational assortative marriage in China from 1970 to 2000

By Hongyun Han

Abstract

This research examines trends in educational assortative marriage in China among first marriages from 1970 to 2000 using data from the 2000 China Population Census and the 2001 Chinese Demographic Reproductive Health Survey. The results reveal decreasing educational homogamy rates from 1970 to 1980. However, the estimated odds of educational homogamy increase substantially between 1980 and 1995 and then grow at a slower pace in the late 1990s. Further, in urban areas, increasing rates of resemblance between spouses occur a decade earlier and at a higher level, compared to rural areas. Overall, the results indicate that senior high school graduates and college graduates in the late 1990s are less likely to marry those with less education than those in the 1970s in modern China.

Author’s Affiliation

• Hongyun Han - University of Wisconsin–Madison, United States of America EMAIL

Similar articles in Demographic Research

Return migration and educational investments in children in China: Hukou differences and the role of parental coresidence
Volume 54 - Article 20    | Keywords: China, coresidence, hukou, human capital, left-behind children, migrant children, parents, return migration

Couple migration patterns, gender power relationships and later-life depression in China
Volume 53 - Article 40    | Keywords: China, dyadic analysis, gender relations, mental health, migration, older adults

Childhood left-behind experiences and premarital cohabitation: Evidence from China
Volume 53 - Article 30    | Keywords: China, China Family Panel Studies, left-behind children, life course, premarital cohabitation

Universal yet local: Estimating county-level fertility ideals and intentions in China
Volume 53 - Article 18    | Keywords: China, fertility intention, multilevel model, poststratification, small area estimation

Between money and intimacy: Brideprice, marriage, and women’s position in contemporary China
Volume 50 - Article 46    | Keywords: brideprice, China, divorce, family, family law, gender inequalities, marriage