How Does Educational Assortative Mating Matter for Mental Health in China

Marriage has long been theorized to promote individuals’ health by providing economic, emotional, and social support. These once seemingly universal health implications of marriage, however, have been questioned. Recent research increasingly shows that not all marriages bring the same benefits. Yet relatively little is known about how recent demographic changes in marriage, particularly the growing diversity in assortative mating patterns, may affect the health consequences associated with marriage. To address this gap, my working paper investigates how educational assortative mating affects individuals’ mental health over the life course and across birth cohorts. The study is situated in the Chinese context, where rapid socioeconomic transformations intersect with enduring Confucian family traditions.

Using data from the China Family Panel Study and the growth curve modeling approach, the study shows that men in educational hypogamy (wives more educated than husbands) and women in educational hypergamy (husbands more educated than wives) exhibit increasing advantages in mental health than their counterparts in educational homogamy (husbands and wives having the same level of education). These advantages grow stronger with age. Relatively limited cohort variation has been found in the effects of educational assortative mating on mental health trajectories, with only one exception: the mental health advantages of men in educational hypogamy tend to decline across successive birth cohorts. This corresponds to arguments about the resurgence of patriarchal traditions in China in recent years, which may reduce the acceptance and benefits of hypogamous marriages.

This study echoes the recent trend of the reversed gender gap in education. As women have begun to outperform men in educational attainment, the growing prevalence of educational hypogamy and the relative decline in educational hypergamy have been observed in many societies. The health implications of educational assortative mating examined in this study help reveal how these changes in marital practices and family dynamics may affect individuals’ well-being. The study also calls for more studies in various societies to explore how changing marriage patterns affect health in diverse cultural settings.