Migration and Educational Assortative Mating in India: How Geographic Mobility Shapes Marriage Markets

TL;DR

This study investigates how internal migration in India affects educational marriage patterns, revealing that migrants tend to marry outside their educational group, especially urban-to-urban migrants, due to changes in family and marriage pool dynamics.

Contribution

It provides new insights into how geographic mobility influences educational assortative mating, highlighting migration as a key factor in shifting marriage market preferences in India.

Findings

Migrants are more likely to engage in educationally heterogamous marriages.

Urban-to-urban migrants are particularly prone to hypogamy.

Family and marriage pool composition drive educational heterogamy among migrants.

Abstract

This paper examines how internal migration influences educational assortative mating patterns in India using Periodic Labour Force Survey data (2020-21). We analyze the association of migrant status and type of assortative mating, that is whether migrants are more likely to engage in homogamous (similar education) or heterogamous (different education) marriages compared to non-migrants. Results show migrants are significantly more likely to form educationally heterogamous marriages, with urban-to-urban migrants particularly prone to hypogamy (marrying higher-educated partners). These findings are validated using instrumental variables including crime rates, migrant networks, and unemployment rates. Family structure and marriage pool composition emerge as key mechanisms driving educational heterogamy among migrants, suggesting migration fundamentally alters marital formation preferences away from traditional educational homogamy patterns.