abstract: 'Demographic explanations for the rise in household income inequality

  include increased educational assortative mating and changes in the

  division of paid labour within families. Building on this research, the

  current study focuses on the connected nature of these two

  inequality-producing mechanisms, while at the same time bridging the

  divide with the economic literature on the role of income

  differentiation. Drawing on the 2004-2008 European Union Statistics on

  Income and Living Conditions, we consider variation across Europe in the

  disequalising effect of educational assortative mating and relate these

  patterns to the general characteristics of welfare state regimes,

  focusing on the degree of gender equality and income differentiation.

  First, we document large educational differentials in men''s and women''s

  income in Eastern Europe, and smaller differentials in Anglo-Saxon,

  Continental and, especially, Northern Europe. Next, we find that this

  variation in gender equality and income differentiation parallels

  variation in the potential contribution of educational assortative

  mating to educational differentiation in household income. While all

  countries display larger educational differentials in household income

  under the scenario of 100\% educational homogamy, the biggest

  differences are found in Eastern Europe, and the smallest differences in

  the Nordic countries. These results suggest that educational assortative

  mating is less disequalising in countries with more gender equality and

  support for equal opportunities.'
affiliation: 'Eeckhaut, MCW (Corresponding Author), Univ Delaware, Dept Sociol \&
  Criminal Justice, 325 Smith Hall,18 Amstel Ave, Newark, DE 19716 USA.

  Eeckhaut, Mieke C. W., Univ Delaware, Dept Sociol \& Criminal Justice, 325 Smith
  Hall,18 Amstel Ave, Newark, DE 19716 USA.

  Stanfors, Maria A., Lund Univ, Ctr Econ Demog, Lund, Sweden.'
article-number: 0001699319877925
author: Eeckhaut, Mieke C. W. and Stanfors, Maria A.
author-email: eeckhaut@udel.edu
author_list:
- family: Eeckhaut
  given: Mieke C. W.
- family: Stanfors
  given: Maria A.
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1177/0001699319877925
earlyaccessdate: OCT 2019
eissn: 1502-3869
files: []
issn: 0001-6993
journal: ACTA SOCIOLOGICA
keywords: 'Educational assortative mating; income inequality; division of labour;

  Europe; cross-national analysis; European Union Statistics on Income and

  Living Conditions; diagonal reference models'
keywords-plus: 'LABOR-FORCE PARTICIPATION; FAMILY INCOME; EARNINGS INEQUALITY; WIVES

  EARNINGS; TRENDS; EMPLOYMENT; PATTERNS; HOMOGAMY; WORK; MARRIAGE'
language: English
month: FEB
number: '1'
number-of-cited-references: '73'
orcid-numbers: Eeckhaut, Mieke/0000-0001-9132-0883
pages: 48-69
papis_id: 597fe033c48b286a13b0d4536d7f5fe0
ref: Eeckhaut2021educationalassortati
times-cited: '1'
title: 'Educational assortative mating, gender equality, and income differentiation
  across Europe: A simulation study'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000494155000001
usage-count-last-180-days: '3'
usage-count-since-2013: '20'
volume: '64'
web-of-science-categories: Sociology
year: '2021'