NBER Study: Segregation Drives Class Sorting in Marriage More Than Race
A new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper by Benjamin Goldman, Jamie Gracie, and Sonya Porter investigates the persistent trend of Americans marrying within their own race and socioeconomic class. The study highlights how limited exposure to other groups contributes to low intergroup marriage rates, which have significant implications for inequality and intergenerational mobility. By instrumenting for exposure through variations in childhood neighborhoods, specifically the presence of opposite-sex children from different racial and class backgrounds, the authors analyze marital outcomes. The findings reveal that increased exposure significantly boosts interclass marriages between individuals from high- and low-income families. However, it has no detectable effect on interracial marriages between White and Black individuals. Using a spatial marriage market model, the research estimates that residential segregation accounts for over one-third of marital sorting by class but less than five percent of sorting by race. This suggests that while physical proximity influences class-based partner selection, other factors likely drive racial homogamy. The study utilizes confidential data reviewed by the U.S. Census Bureau and was funded by several academic institutions, offering critical insights into the structural drivers of social stratification.
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NBER Study: Segregation Drives Class Sorting in Marriage More Than Race
A new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper by Benjamin Goldman, Jamie Gracie, and Sonya Porter investigates the persistent trend of Americans marrying within their own race and socioeconomic class. The study highlights how limited exposure to other groups contributes to low intergroup marriage rates, which have significant implications for inequality and intergenerational mobility. By instrumenting for exposure through variations in childhood neighborhoods, specifically the presence of opposite-sex children from different racial and class backgrounds, the authors analyze marital outcomes. The findings reveal that increased exposure significantly boosts interclass marriages between individuals from high- and low-income families. However, it has no detectable effect on interracial marriages between White and Black individuals. Using a spatial marriage market model, the research estimates that residential segregation accounts for over one-third of marital sorting by class but less than five percent of sorting by race. This suggests that while physical proximity influences class-based partner selection, other factors likely drive racial homogamy. The study utilizes confidential data reviewed by the U.S. Census Bureau and was funded by several academic institutions, offering critical insights into the structural drivers of social stratification.
National Bureau of Economic Research Working Papers