Working Paper: NBER ID: w19829
Authors: Jeremy Greenwood; Nezih Guner; Georgi Kocharkov; Cezar Santos
Abstract: Has there been an increase in positive assortative mating? Does assortative mating contribute to household income inequality? Data from the United States Census Bureau suggests there has been a rise in assortative mating. Additionally, assortative mating affects household income inequality. In particular, if matching in 2005 between husbands and wives had been random, instead of the pattern observed in the data, then the Gini coefficient would have fallen from the observed 0.43 to 0.34, so that income inequality would be smaller. Thus, assortative mating is important for income inequality. The high level of married female labor-force participation in 2005 is important for this result.
Keywords: assortative mating; income inequality; female labor force participation
JEL Codes: D31; J11; J12; J22
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| higher married female labor force participation (J21) | effect of assortative mating on income inequality (D31) |
| increased female labor force participation (J21) | impact of assortative mating on household income distributions (D31) |
| assortative mating (C78) | income inequality (D31) |
| assortative mating (C78) | Gini coefficient (D31) |
| random matching (C78) | Gini coefficient (D31) |