California Center for Population Research

We examine changes in educational homogamy across one cohort’s life and identify the demographic sources of these changes. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we decompose changes in the odds of homogamy in prevailing marriages into three components: changes due to (1) new marriages, (2) marital dissolutions, and (3) educational upgrades after marriage. The odds of homogamy increase substantially as the cohort ages. These patterns are primarily driven by changes in the odds of homogamy among newlyweds entering their first marriages. Marital dissolutions, educational upgrades after marriage, and remarriages have smaller effects.