Beyond Educational Homogamy: Multiple Dimensions of Assortative Mating and Mother’s Employment in South Korea

• In Event: Family Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 11: Homogamy, Heterogamy, and Marriage

Abstract

While South Korea has one of the highest rates of educational homogamy, married women’s employment rates remain comparatively low. Prior research on assortative mating has largely focused on educational and economic homogamy, often treating education as the primary dimension of socioeconomic similarity. However, educational attainment does not always translate into labor market outcomes, particularly in contexts characterized by strong motherhood penalties. This study examines how educational, economic, and occupational assortative mating patterns are associated with mothers’ employment trajectories following childbirth in South Korea. Using longitudinal data from the 1998–2024 Korea Labor and Income Panel Study, this study applies linear probability models with individual and year fixed effects to estimate changes in women’s employment probabilities from four years before childbirth to six years after childbirth. An additional exit analysis examines transitions from employment to non-employment immediately after childbirth among women employed prior to birth. Results show that across all three indicators, women’s employment probability declines at childbirth and partially recovers afterward. Differences by assortative mating pattern are limited for educational and occupational measures. In contrast, economic assortative mating patterns show significant differences at specific post-birth time points, and women in economic hypergamy exhibit higher probabilities of labor market exit immediately after childbirth. By incorporating educational, economic, and occupational assortative mating patterns simultaneously, this study provides a more comprehensive approach to understanding how multiple dimensions of socioeconomic status operate within households. The findings suggest that relative earnings within couples are more closely associated with mothers’ post-birth employment patterns than educational or occupational similarity, highlighting the importance of economic bargaining dynamics in shaping employment trajectories after childbirth.

Authors

• Hyeona Park, Seoul National University

• Jungmin Shin, University at Albany, SUNY