Trends in Educational Assortative Mating in Post-socialist Central Europe: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary between 1988 and 2000

Authors

KATRŇÁK Tomáš KREIDL Martin FÓNADOVÁ Laura

Year of publication 2005
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source California Center for Population Research On-line Working Paper Series
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Economics and Administration

Citation
web http://repositories.cdlib.org/ccpr/olwp/CCPR-033-05/
Field Sociology, demography
Keywords education; homogamy; social inequality; central Europe
Description This article analyzes trends in educational homogamy in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary from 1988 to 2000. Our hypothesis is that educational homogamy strengthened in post-socialist countries as a result of changing socio-economic conditions during the post-communist transformation. We argue that peoples behavior changes in reaction to a new socio-economic environment, in which the risks associated with a poor marital match are more pronounced. We analyze vital statistics on all new marriages in 1988, 1991, 1994, 1997, and 2000 in each country. Log-linear and log-multiplicative models led to the rejection of our hypothesis. Between 1988 and 2000 educational homogamy remained low and constant in the Czech Republic and high and constant in Poland, whereas it increased slightly in Hungary and rather significantly in Slovakia. The article concludes with a discussion of some possible explanations of these varied trends in educational homogamy with regards to changes in demographic as well as social mobility processes in former socialist countries during the 1990s.
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