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Opportunities to Meet: Occupational Education and Marriage Formation in Young Adulthood

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  • David McClendon
  • Janet Kuo
  • R. Raley

Abstract

Explanations for the positive association between education and marriage in the United States emphasize the economic and cultural attractiveness of having a college degree in the marriage market. However, educational attainment may also shape the opportunities that men and women have to meet other college-educated partners, particularly in contexts with significant educational stratification. We focus on work—and the social ties that it supports—and consider whether the educational composition of occupations is important for marriage formation during young adulthood. Employing discrete-time event-history methods using the NLSY-97, we find that occupational education is positively associated with transitioning to first marriage and with marrying a college-educated partner for women but not for men. Moreover, occupational education is positively associated with marriage over cohabitation as a first union for women. Our findings call attention to an unexplored, indirect link between education and marriage that, we argue, offers insight into why college-educated women in the United States enjoy better marriage prospects. Copyright Population Association of America 2014

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  • David McClendon & Janet Kuo & R. Raley, 2014. "Opportunities to Meet: Occupational Education and Marriage Formation in Young Adulthood," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(4), pages 1319-1344, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:51:y:2014:i:4:p:1319-1344
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-014-0313-x
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    2. Koji Yasuda & Tomoko Kinugasa & Shigeyuki Hamori, 2019. "An Empirical Analysis Of Marital Status In Japan," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 64(03), pages 773-798, June.
    3. Siqi Han & Dmitry Tumin & Zhenchao Qian, 2016. "Gendered transitions to adulthood by college field of study in the United States," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 35(31), pages 929-960.
    4. Kate Choi & Yue Qian, 2023. "Differences in occupational homogamy by race, ethnicity, and national origin: A social mobility strategy for Asian Americans," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 48(18), pages 483-512.
    5. Daniel Schneider & Kristen Harknett & Matthew Stimpson, 2019. "Job Quality and the Educational Gradient in Entry Into Marriage and Cohabitation," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(2), pages 451-476, April.
    6. Bicakova, Alena & Jurajda, Štepán, 2016. "Field-of-Study Homogamy," IZA Discussion Papers 9844, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Rachel M. Shattuck, 2017. "Does It Matter What She Wants? The Role of Individual Preferences Against Unmarried Motherhood in Young Women’s Likelihood of a Nonmarital First Birth," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(4), pages 1451-1475, August.

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