Trends in assortative mating

Anitha George, University of London
Marco Francesconi, University of Essex
Kirstine Hansen, University of London

Despite the relative decline in marriage, it is still the most common form of partnership in the UK. The degree to which males marry females with similar characteristics to themselves has important implications on when and how many children they have, the distribution of family income and family labour supply decisions. Using data from the three British birth cohorts: the National Child Development Study (1958), the British Cohort Study (1970) and the Millennium Cohort Study (2000/2001) as well as the British Household Panel Survey this research will examine trends in assortative mating over time and discuss the implications of these trends.