The gender divide in urban China: Singlehood and assortative mating by age and education
<b>Objective</b>: Chinese media labels highly educated, urban women who are still single in their late 20s as "leftover ladies". We investigate whether indeed highly educated women are less likely to marry than their less-educated counterparts, and how assortative mating patter...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
2014-12-01
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| Series: | Demographic Research |
| Online Access: | http://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol31/45/ |
| _version_ | 1819229465058738176 |
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| author | Yue Qian Zhenchao Qian |
| author_facet | Yue Qian Zhenchao Qian |
| author_sort | Yue Qian |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <b>Objective</b>: Chinese media labels highly educated, urban women who are still single in their late 20s as "leftover ladies". We investigate whether indeed highly educated women are less likely to marry than their less-educated counterparts, and how assortative mating patterns by age and education play a role in singleness. <b>Methods</b>: We use data from the urban samples of the Chinese General Social Surveys in the 2000s. In the analysis we calculate marriage rates to examine the likelihood of entry into marriage, and then apply log-linear models to investigate the assortative mating patterns by age and education. <b>Results</b>: We find that as education increases, the likelihood of marriage increases among men but decreases among women, especially among those over age 30. The results from log-linear models reveal that more marriages involve better-educated, older men and less-educated, younger women. <b>Conclusions</b>: We argue that persistent traditional gender roles, accompanied by the rapid rise in women's education, contribute to low marriage rates among older, highly educated women. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T11:13:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c45b0ef4a7014e73b0ee98aa0f0e2d65 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1435-9871 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T11:13:36Z |
| publishDate | 2014-12-01 |
| publisher | Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Demographic Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-c45b0ef4a7014e73b0ee98aa0f0e2d652022-12-21T17:49:17ZengMax Planck Institute for Demographic ResearchDemographic Research1435-98712014-12-01314510.4054/DemRes.2014.31.452486The gender divide in urban China: Singlehood and assortative mating by age and educationYue Qian0Zhenchao Qian1Ohio State UniversityOhio State University<b>Objective</b>: Chinese media labels highly educated, urban women who are still single in their late 20s as "leftover ladies". We investigate whether indeed highly educated women are less likely to marry than their less-educated counterparts, and how assortative mating patterns by age and education play a role in singleness. <b>Methods</b>: We use data from the urban samples of the Chinese General Social Surveys in the 2000s. In the analysis we calculate marriage rates to examine the likelihood of entry into marriage, and then apply log-linear models to investigate the assortative mating patterns by age and education. <b>Results</b>: We find that as education increases, the likelihood of marriage increases among men but decreases among women, especially among those over age 30. The results from log-linear models reveal that more marriages involve better-educated, older men and less-educated, younger women. <b>Conclusions</b>: We argue that persistent traditional gender roles, accompanied by the rapid rise in women's education, contribute to low marriage rates among older, highly educated women.http://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol31/45/ |
| spellingShingle | Yue Qian Zhenchao Qian The gender divide in urban China: Singlehood and assortative mating by age and education Demographic Research |
| title | The gender divide in urban China: Singlehood and assortative mating by age and education |
| title_full | The gender divide in urban China: Singlehood and assortative mating by age and education |
| title_fullStr | The gender divide in urban China: Singlehood and assortative mating by age and education |
| title_full_unstemmed | The gender divide in urban China: Singlehood and assortative mating by age and education |
| title_short | The gender divide in urban China: Singlehood and assortative mating by age and education |
| title_sort | gender divide in urban china singlehood and assortative mating by age and education |
| url | http://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol31/45/ |
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