Education and marriage
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The influx of women into higher education has changed the dynamics of dating. When it comes down to education, the tendency is for like to marry like.
For every 100 women aged 25 to 49 with a university degree in 2006, 84 men had a comparable education. In 1981, the ratio was 157 men for every 100 women. The result is that women are now less likely than men to find a partner with the same level of education.
In 2006, 64% of married women with a university degree had a spouse with the same level of education, a decline from 67% in 1981. By comparison, 67% of married men with a university degree in 2006 had a spouse with the same level of education, up from 38% in 1981.
In general, university graduates today prefer to marry or form a common-law relationship with a partner who also has a university degree. Since education tends to increase income, this trend has widened the earnings gap between families at the low end of the income scale and those at the high end.
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