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Educational assortative mating and income differentiation across Europe

Eeckhaut, Mieke and Stanfors, Maria LU (2019) In Lund Papers in Economic Demography (LPED)
Abstract
Demographic explanations for the rise in household income inequality include increased educational assortative mating (EAM) and changes in the division of paid labour within families. Building on this research, the current study focuses on the connected nature of these two inequality-producing mechanisms, while at the same time bridging the divide with the economic literature on the role of income differentiation. Using data from the 2004-2008 EU-SILC, we consider variation across Europe in the disequalising effect of EAM and relate these patterns to the general characteristics of welfare state regimes, focusing on the degree of gender equality and income differentiation. First, we document large educational differentials in men's and... (More)
Demographic explanations for the rise in household income inequality include increased educational assortative mating (EAM) and changes in the division of paid labour within families. Building on this research, the current study focuses on the connected nature of these two inequality-producing mechanisms, while at the same time bridging the divide with the economic literature on the role of income differentiation. Using data from the 2004-2008 EU-SILC, we consider variation across Europe in the disequalising effect of EAM and relate these patterns to the general characteristics of welfare state regimes, focusing on the degree of gender equality and income differentiation. First, we document large educational differentials in men's and women's income in Eastern Europe, and smaller differentials in Anglo-Saxon, Continental and, especially, Northern Europe. Next, we find that this variation in gender equality and income differentiation parallels variation in the potential contribution of EAM to household income inequality. While all countries display larger educational differentials in household income under the scenario of absolute educational homogamy, the biggest differences are found in Eastern Europe, and the smallest differences in the Nordics. These results suggest that EAM is less disequalising in countries with more gender equality and support for equal opportunities. (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Educational Assortative Mating, Income Inequality, Division of Labour, Europe, Cross-National Analysis, EU-SILC, Diagonal Reference Models
in
Lund Papers in Economic Demography (LPED)
issue
2019:5
pages
44 pages
project
Educational homogamy, gender and increasing differentiation in Sweden: A study across time and space
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
30705c23-7587-4f13-b1ad-131de228521c
alternative location
https://www.ed.lu.se/publications/Lund-Papers-in-Economic-Demography
date added to LUP
2020-04-27 11:15:36
date last changed
2023-04-26 14:15:42
@misc{30705c23-7587-4f13-b1ad-131de228521c,
  abstract     = {{Demographic explanations for the rise in household income inequality include increased educational assortative mating (EAM) and changes in the division of paid labour within families. Building on this research, the current study focuses on the connected nature of these two inequality-producing mechanisms, while at the same time bridging the divide with the economic literature on the role of income differentiation. Using data from the 2004-2008 EU-SILC, we consider variation across Europe in the disequalising effect of EAM and relate these patterns to the general characteristics of welfare state regimes, focusing on the degree of gender equality and income differentiation. First, we document large educational differentials in men's and women's income in Eastern Europe, and smaller differentials in Anglo-Saxon, Continental and, especially, Northern Europe. Next, we find that this variation in gender equality and income differentiation parallels variation in the potential contribution of EAM to household income inequality. While all countries display larger educational differentials in household income under the scenario of absolute educational homogamy, the biggest differences are found in Eastern Europe, and the smallest differences in the Nordics. These results suggest that EAM is less disequalising in countries with more gender equality and support for equal opportunities.}},
  author       = {{Eeckhaut, Mieke and Stanfors, Maria}},
  keywords     = {{Educational Assortative Mating; Income Inequality; Division of Labour; Europe; Cross-National Analysis; EU-SILC; Diagonal Reference Models}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{2019:5}},
  series       = {{Lund Papers in Economic Demography (LPED)}},
  title        = {{Educational assortative mating and income differentiation across Europe}},
  url          = {{https://www.ed.lu.se/publications/Lund-Papers-in-Economic-Demography}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}