Wer heiratet wen? Die entwicklung der bildungsspezifischen heiratsmuster in Westdeutschland

Abstract

Although much work has been done on social mobility in West Germany, little is known about recent changes in assortative mating. In the context of educational expansion, as well as women's increasing educational levels in most modern societies, some researchers expect social relationships to become more selective. Other researchers, however, see social structures as becoming weaker because of increasing tendencies toward individualization. Whereas according to the first thesis educational homogamy might be expected to increase over time, the second one suggests that modernization processes are accompanied by a decline in the importance of education in assortative mating. Using loglinear models the article examines whether increasing gender equality with respect to education has been accompanied by corresponding changes in marriage patterns. The results show that educational homogamy is still the most important pattern in mating processes. The most remarkable change, however, has taken place in the patterns of heterogamy. Whereas in the older birth cohorts females were more likely than males to marry a person with more education, in the younger birth cohorts there is a clear trend towards greater egalitarianism in the choice of a mate: Young women are just as likely as young men to marry a person with less education.