Changes in education and union formation patterns in Mexico

Marta Mier-y-Teran, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

In Mexico, as in many other developing countries, the widespread of the educational system has taken place in the second half of the twentieth century. In spite of these and other social profound transformations related to the modernization process, union formation patterns have not been greatly modified. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the effect of the growing levels of education on the timing of union formation of men and women during the twentieth century in a context of the social modernization process, deep social stratification and growing precariousness and instability in the labour market. Data from the National Survey on the Family Dynamics (2005) on almost 20 thousand individuals aged 18 years and over are analyzed with discrete time models.