PSC Working Paper Series
Document Type
Working Paper
Date of this Version
1-12-2014
Abstract
Has there been an increase in positive assortative mating? Does assortative mating contribute to household income inequality? Data from the United States Census Bureau suggests there has been a rise in assortative mating. Additionally, assortative mating affects household income inequality. In particular, if matching in 2005 between husbands and wives had been random, instead of the pattern observed in the data, then the Gini coefficient would have fallen from the observed 0.43 to 0.34, so that income inequality would be smaller. Thus, assortative mating is important for income inequality. The high level of married female labor-force participation in 2005 is important for this result.
Keywords
Assortative Mating, Contingency Table, Gini Coefficient, Income Inequality, Lorenz Curve, Married Female Labor-Force Participation, Standardized Contingency Table
Date Posted: 13 January 2014
Comments
Greenwood, Jeremy, Nexih Guner, Georgi Kocharkov, and Cezar Santos. 2014. "Marry Your Like: Assortative Mating and Income Inequality." Philadelphia, PA: Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania. PSC Working Paper Series, PSC 14-1. http://repository.upenn.edu/psc_working_papers/53