Educational and Income Assortative Marriage 5 especially those at the top and bottom of the degree of marital sorting on income and the educational distribution,increasingly married share of couples in which the wife had more spouses with similar education (Schwartz education or income than the husband were Mare,2005). severely underestimated if prevailing marriages, Income assortative mating has received far as opposed to newlyweds,were examined less attention than educational assortative mat- To investigate the role of women's wages ing.Yet in recent decades,income may have in assortative mating,Sweeney and Cancian become increasingly important in the selection (2004)took an individual-level approach to of marriage partners.The median age at first examine the association between women's pre- marriage has risen substantially:Between 1980 marital wages and the economic standing of and 2011,it increased from 24.7 to 28.7 for men the men they married.They found an increase and from 22.0 to 26.5 for women (U.S.Cen- between two cohorts of women in the posi- sus Bureau,2011).Individuals wait until they tive correlation between women's premarital attain stable employment and income and even wages and wages of their husbands,and there- wealth (such as savings,a car,or a home)before fore argued that women's economic prospects they get married (Edin Kefalas,2005;Schnei- became more important in determining their der,2011).As individuals marry later,often after marriage prospects.Unfortunately,Sweeney they have established their economic roles,they and Cancian's (2004)study,along with other are more likely to evaluate potential spouses on prior studies that indicated a positive correlation the basis of current incomes rather than future between spouses'earnings (Cancian Reed, economic prospects as proxied by educational 1999;Schwartz,2010),failed to reveal the attainment (Oppenheimer,1988). within-couple difference in earnings.A positive Prior studies examined associations between correlation between spouses'income implies spouses'earnings in prevailing marriages,that that high-earning individuals (both men and is,all existing marriages at the time of a survey, women)marry higher earning spouses than and found a growing resemblance in husbands' low-earning individuals.In fact,a correlation and wives'earnings (Cancian Reed,1999; between spouses'incomes can be strongly posi- Schwartz,2010).These studies did not,how- tive,even if most women marry men with higher ever,adequately assess the role of income in levels of income than themselves (Kalmijn, assortative entry into marriage.Earnings change 1998).Hence,we do not know whether mate for both spouses after marriage (Cooke,Boyle, selection has changed to the point where men Couch,Feijten,2009).The associations and women no longer tend to form marriages between spouses'earnings in prevailing mar- in which the husband has higher income than riages are based on couples at various durations the wife.The present study departs from prior of marriage,and thus are the combined results research by using log-linear models to investi- of spousal resemblance at the time of marriage gate the prevalence of and changes in income formation and postmarriage divisions of house- hypergamy in which women marry men with hold and market labor between the spouses higher incomes than themselves,net of gender (Schwartz,2010).In addition,the associations differences and shifts in income distributions between spouses'earnings in prevailing mar- This study thus evaluates how marriage is gen- riages suffer from bias due to divorce,because dered from the very start by examining gender spouses'relative earnings influence the risk of asymmetry in assortative mating. divorce (Teachman,2010). In contrast,this study offers a precise account of the trends in assortative mating by examining METHOD education and income at the time of marriage among newlyweds in two time periods.Examin- Data and Measurement ing newlyweds is most suitable for investigating I used data from the 5%sample of the 1980 trends in assortative mating and the role of census and the American Community Survey marriage markets in shaping who marries whom (ACS)2008-2012 5-year sample.The data (Kalmijn,1998:Schwartz Mare,2012). came from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Analyzing newlyweds also avoids bias arising Series project at the University of Minnesota from marital dissolution and changes in traits (https://usa.ipums.org/usa/).The 1980 census after marriage.The appendix shows that the and the ACS from 2008 to 2012 are well suitedEducational and Income Assortative Marriage 5 especially those at the top and bottom of the educational distribution, increasingly married spouses with similar education (Schwartz & Mare, 2005). Income assortative mating has received far less attention than educational assortative mat￾ing. Yet in recent decades, income may have become increasingly important in the selection of marriage partners. The median age at first marriage has risen substantially: Between 1980 and 2011, it increased from 24.7 to 28.7 for men and from 22.0 to 26.5 for women (U.S. Cen￾sus Bureau, 2011). Individuals wait until they attain stable employment and income and even wealth (such as savings, a car, or a home) before they get married (Edin & Kefalas, 2005; Schnei￾der, 2011). As individuals marry later, often after they have established their economic roles, they are more likely to evaluate potential spouses on the basis of current incomes rather than future economic prospects as proxied by educational attainment (Oppenheimer, 1988). Prior studies examined associations between spouses’ earnings in prevailing marriages, that is, all existing marriages at the time of a survey, and found a growing resemblance in husbands’ and wives’ earnings (Cancian & Reed, 1999; Schwartz, 2010). These studies did not, how￾ever, adequately assess the role of income in assortative entry into marriage. Earnings change for both spouses after marriage (Cooke, Boyle, Couch, & Feijten, 2009). The associations between spouses’ earnings in prevailing mar￾riages are based on couples at various durations of marriage, and thus are the combined results of spousal resemblance at the time of marriage formation and postmarriage divisions of house￾hold and market labor between the spouses (Schwartz, 2010). In addition, the associations between spouses’ earnings in prevailing mar￾riages suffer from bias due to divorce, because spouses’ relative earnings influence the risk of divorce (Teachman, 2010). In contrast, this study offers a precise account of the trends in assortative mating by examining education and income at the time of marriage among newlyweds in two time periods. Examin￾ing newlyweds is most suitable for investigating trends in assortative mating and the role of marriage markets in shaping who marries whom (Kalmijn, 1998; Schwartz & Mare, 2012). Analyzing newlyweds also avoids bias arising from marital dissolution and changes in traits after marriage. The appendix shows that the degree of marital sorting on income and the share of couples in which the wife had more education or income than the husband were severely underestimated if prevailing marriages, as opposed to newlyweds, were examined. To investigate the role of women’s wages in assortative mating, Sweeney and Cancian (2004) took an individual-level approach to examine the association between women’s pre￾marital wages and the economic standing of the men they married. They found an increase between two cohorts of women in the posi￾tive correlation between women’s premarital wages and wages of their husbands, and there￾fore argued that women’s economic prospects became more important in determining their marriage prospects. Unfortunately, Sweeney and Cancian’s (2004) study, along with other prior studies that indicated a positive correlation between spouses’ earnings (Cancian & Reed, 1999; Schwartz, 2010), failed to reveal the within-couple difference in earnings. A positive correlation between spouses’ income implies that high-earning individuals (both men and women) marry higher earning spouses than low-earning individuals. In fact, a correlation between spouses’ incomes can be strongly posi￾tive, even if most women marry men with higher levels of income than themselves (Kalmijn, 1998). Hence, we do not know whether mate selection has changed to the point where men and women no longer tend to form marriages in which the husband has higher income than the wife. The present study departs from prior research by using log-linear models to investi￾gate the prevalence of and changes in income hypergamy in which women marry men with higher incomes than themselves, net of gender differences and shifts in income distributions. This study thus evaluates how marriage is gen￾dered from the very start by examining gender asymmetry in assortative mating. Method Data and Measurement I used data from the 5% sample of the 1980 census and the American Community Survey (ACS) 2008–2012 5-year sample. The data came from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series project at the University of Minnesota (https://usa.ipums.org/usa/). The 1980 census and the ACS from 2008 to 2012 are well suited