Marriage Markets

Marriage markets refer to the characteristics, composition, and geographic location of dating pools within which people search for intimate partners. Broadly speaking, marriage market research posits that individuals make decisions regarding the formation and dissolution of intimate relationships, as well as decisions about when and where to have children, according to the availability of desirable partners who reside in their marriage market.

Marriage market studies examine both the quality and quantity of potential partners. Measuring partner quantity is straightforward. Quantity refers to the numerical availability of potential partners who are of a given age. This is usually measured in terms of the sex ratio, which is the number of males divided by the number of females.

Partner quality is not as straightforward. It has been measured in numerous ways by numerous researchers. Perhaps the most common quality measures are socioeconomic attributes such as earned income, labor force participation, and educational attainment, although physical attractiveness is also emphasized by some researchers. Socioeconomic attributes have been particularly useful when examining the quality of males in women's marriage markets. Research demonstrates that men's traditional role as financial provider makes males with high socioeconomic status more desirable marriage and dating partners. These men may provide greater financial security and are able to sustain a household once married.

By focusing on the quality and quantity of potential partners, marriage market research examines how individuals attempt to exchange their own personal assets for a partner with the greatest number of desirable traits. While attempting to maximize one's own personal gains from establishing an intimate relationship, individuals must also compete with others in the marriage market who may posses more desirable traits then one's self. This process produces a counterbalancing mechanism inherent in marriage markets that helps ensure that assortative mating is achieved—meaning that people with similar levels of desirable traits marry one another. However, when the numerical availability of persons with desirable characteristics is low, individuals are forced to settle for a partner with a lower level (or different set) of qualities than they would prefer, delay forming a partnership until a more advantageous match can be formed, or forgo a relationship altogether. In this way, marriage market composition is hypothesized to determine the ease or difficulty of various familial processes. In the remainder of this entry, major theories of marriage markets are presented and selected research findings are discussed.