The changing pattern of marriage in Iran: responses to the marriage squeeze

Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Golnaz Tagvatalab, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

We use multiple household surveys from Iran to show how the average age and education gaps have changed over time and in response to the age imbalance in the marriage market. We estimate a model of the age gap which shows that, controlling for individual characteristics, the sex ratio has a significant effect on the average age gap. Higher sex ratios are associated with a lower average age gap between spouses. These effects indicate that when there are fewer women of marriage-age relative to men, the average household is more balanced in age, which generally favors the bargaining position of women in the household. We estiamte a similar model for the education gap, which shows that a higher ratio of marriage-age men to women increases the education gap, implying that when there is a shortage of women, men tend to marry women with less education causing a wider education gap.