Opportunity and change in occupational assortative mating.

ABSTRACT: This article documents how opportunity and change in the U.S. occupational structure shaped patterns of occupational assortative mating between 1970 and 2015-2017. Trends in occupational assortative mating have often been cited as potentially contributing to the rise in economic inequality-the idea that doctors increasingly marry doctors instead of nurses-thereby exacerbating the concentration of resources among advantaged households. Previous estimates of trends in occupational assortative mating are now decades old and their impact on household inequality has not been quantified. Our results show large-scale change. The prevalence of dual-professional couples nearly tripled between 1970 and 2015-2017. Changes were especially large among particular occupational combinations. For instance,

SUBMITTER: Schwartz CR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8387636 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature