Changes in Assortative Matching and Educational Inequality: Evidence from Marriage and Birth Records in Mexico

41 Pages Posted: 13 May 2021

See all articles by Lauren Hoehn-Velasco

Lauren Hoehn-Velasco

Georgia State University - Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

Jacob Penglase

San Diego State University - Department of Economics

Date Written: May 12, 2021

Abstract

Over the past three decades, educational attainment in Mexico has grown substantially, and changing demographic trends have resulted in lower birth and marriage rates. Increasing educational attainment may affect marriage patterns through the growing supply of partners with higher education levels and changing preferences over their partner's education level. Using administrative records on births and marriages, we quantify changes in the relative education levels within married and non-married couples. Our findings suggest two main patterns. First, assortativeness is higher when focusing on non-adjacent versus adjacent education categories. That is, it is more common for a college graduate to partner with a secondary-school educated partner rather than a partner with only a primary-school education. Second, assortativeness among college graduates has grown considerably over time. These findings hold across both marital and birth records.

Keywords: Marriage, Mexico, Assortative Matching

JEL Classification: J12,I24

Suggested Citation

Hoehn-Velasco, Lauren and Penglase, Jacob, Changes in Assortative Matching and Educational Inequality: Evidence from Marriage and Birth Records in Mexico (May 12, 2021). Andrew Young School of Policy Studies Research Paper Series Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3844840 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3844840

Lauren Hoehn-Velasco

Georgia State University - Andrew Young School of Policy Studies ( email )

Department of Economics
35 Broad Street, 6th Floor
Atlanta, GA 30303-3083
United States

Jacob Penglase (Contact Author)

San Diego State University - Department of Economics ( email )

5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182
United States

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