Life Satisfaction of Cross-Border Marriage Migrants in South Korea: Exploring Educational Assortative Mating

• In Event: 30617 - Immigrant Communities and Families

Abstract

This is my revised abstract: This study examines the association between patterns of educational pairing and life satisfaction among migrant women married to Korean husbands. Using data from the 2018 National Survey of Multicultural Families, the analysis incorporates both absolute educational attainment and relative educational configurations between spouses. Findings indicate nuanced associations: migrant women in homogamous unions where both spouses hold college degrees report the highest life satisfaction levels. However, contrary to the generalized homogamy advantage hypothesis—which posits consistently positive outcomes from educational similarity—significant variations in life satisfaction exist across homogamous unions depending on educational attainment. Additionally, the findings challenge the hypergamy advantage hypothesis—which assumes women’s life satisfaction benefits from husbands’ higher educational levels. Specifically, migrant women in the hypergamous unions with non-college-educated husbands report the lowest life satisfaction among all analyzed pairings. Conversely, women in the hypergamous unions with college-educated husbands report higher life satisfaction than those in non-college homogamous unions. These complex patterns reveal the limitations of existing resource-based approaches and underscore the need to incorporate the interplay between structural socioeconomic inequalities and relationship dynamics.

Authors

• Sohee Shin, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

• Jorge Manuel Balboa Chia, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign