Search Results

Title: Who Marries Differently Aged Spouses? Ability, Education, Occupation, Earnings, and Appearance
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Mansour, Hani
McKinnish, Terra
Who Marries Differently Aged Spouses? Ability, Education, Occupation, Earnings, and Appearance
Review of Economics and Statistics 96,3 (July 2014): 577-580.
Also: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/REST_a_00377#.V4AKbnrqXNJ
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: MIT Press
Keyword(s): Age and Ageing; Census of Population; Cognitive Ability; Educational Attainment; Marriage; National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (AddHealth)

In direct contrast to conventional wisdom and most economic models of marital age gaps, we present robust evidence that men and women who are married to differently aged spouses are negatively selected. Empirical results show lower cognitive ability, lower educational attainment, lower occupational wages, lower earnings, and less attractive appearance among those married to a differently aged spouse. These results, obtained using samples of first marriages and controlling for age of marriage, are consistent with a model in which individuals with more schooling and more upwardly mobile occupations interact more heavily with similarly aged peers and are ultimately more likely to marry similarly-aged spouses.
Bibliography Citation
Mansour, Hani and Terra McKinnish. "Who Marries Differently Aged Spouses? Ability, Education, Occupation, Earnings, and Appearance." Review of Economics and Statistics 96,3 (July 2014): 577-580.