Marrying Up or Matching Even? Socioeconomic Drivers of Spousal Age Gaps in India

TL;DR

This paper investigates the socio-economic factors influencing spousal age gaps in India, revealing complex urban-rural differences and the impact of education, income, and social norms on marriage patterns.

Contribution

It provides the first empirical analysis of how social, economic, and cultural factors shape spousal age gaps in Indian society, using NSSO data and advanced regression methods.

Findings

Rural prosperity and educational hypergamy widen age gaps.

Urban growth of white-collar jobs initially narrows age gaps.

Nonlinear income effects suggest limited marriage mobility for women.

Abstract

This study examines the determinants of the spousal age gap (SAG) in India, utilizing data from the 61st and 68th rounds of the National Sample Survey (NSSO). We employ regression analysis, including instrumental variables, to address selection bias and account for unobservable factors. We hypothesize an inverted U-shaped relationship between educational assortative mating and SAG, where, keeping the husband's education constant at the graduation level, the SAG first widens and then narrows as the wife's education level increases from primary to postgraduate. This pattern is shaped by distinct socio-economic factors across rural and urban settings. In rural India, increasing prosperity, changes in family structure, and educational hypergamy contribute to a wider age gap, with the influence of bride squeeze further exacerbating this disparity. Conversely, in urban areas, while the growth of white-collar jobs initially contributed to a narrowing of the SAG in 2004-05, this trend did not persist by 2011-12. Specifically, the influence of income on SAG becomes nonlinear, showing declining trends beyond the 7th income quantile, reflecting limited marriage mobility opportunities for females and hinting at a possible threat to the institution of marriage among the urban upper class. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to provide empirical evidence on how specific social, economic, and cultural dynamics influence the spousal age gap in Indian society. This increasing and persistent spousal age gap has significant implications for the treatment of women, power dynamics, and violence within marriage.