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Age Gap Between Spouses in South and Southeast Asia
Premchand Dommaraju
Sociology, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore
Author Note
Premchand Dommaraju https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6889-2039
This research is supported by the Ministry of Education, Singapore, under its
Academic Research Fund Tier 1 (2018-T1-001-109)
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Premchand
Dommaraju, Sociology, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological
University, 48 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639818. Email:
premchand@ntu.edu.sg
1
Abstract
Age gap between spouses has important implications for a range of outcomes—
from fertility and longevity, to gender relationships, marital quality, and
stability. This paper examines the age gap between spouses in 12 countries in
South and Southeast Asia. The average age difference (husband’s minus wife’s
age) is positive in all countries and ranges from 2.7 in Myanmar to 8.4 in
Bangladesh. Age homogamous marriages accounted for 5% of all marriages in
Bangladesh to close to half of all marriages in Thailand. The proportion of age
hypogamous marriages was uniformly low in all the countries except for
Myanmar where it reaches close to 10%. Men’s marriage age has a stronger
effect in determining the age gap. In general, the age gap for women with lower
education was larger than for those with higher education. However, much of
this effect was explained by the difference in marriage timing across educational
groups.
Keywords: marriage, age homogamy, assortative marriage, education,
Asia
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Age Gap Between Spouses in South and Southeast Asia
In western industrialized societies, there has been a trend toward declining age
differences and a shift toward marriages in which both spouses are of similar
ages (Kolk, 2015; Shafer, 2013; Uggla & Wilson, 2020). In contrast to the
literature from western countries, surprisingly little is known about age
differences in Asian countries. The last major comparative study that included
and discussed Asian countries was published over 35 years ago by Casterline et
al. in 1986.
This paper focuses on two regions of Asia—South and Southeast Asia. The
countries in the two regions present a rich diversity of family, marriage, and
social patterns, thus providing a good setting to examine age differences between
spouses. Yeung et al.’s (2018) review article highlights some of the key features
of family and marriage patterns in the two regions. These features form the
context for understanding the age difference patterns. In terms of family and
kinship, Southeast Asia is predominately bilateral with flexible arrangements
and is much more gender egalitarian compared to South Asia, with stronger
patrilineal and patrilocal structures. Marriage remains a key institution, with
non-marriage rates extremely low in South Asia and much of Southeast Asia
(with some exceptions, such as higher non-marriage rates in Myanmar and
Singapore). Early marriage, once a common feature in the two regions, has
declined though marriage is relatively early by international standards.
Marriages continue to be arranged with varying degrees of involvement of the
parents in much of South Asia, while such practices are no longer common in
much of Southeast Asia. Divorce and remarriages occur less frequently in South
Asia compared to Southeast Asia. The two regions have witnessed expansion in
education. In many countries, women outnumber men at higher levels of
education. The countries in the two regions vary not only in the family, social
and cultural aspects but also have seen different trajectories of economic and
social changes over the last two decades. Countries such as Indonesia and
Thailand, for instance, witnessed painful economic transitions, including the
shrinking of the economy during the Asian Financial Crisis in the late 1990s. In
the case of Thailand, economic growth has continued to be uneven with
increasing unemployment (Samphantharak, 2018; Yang et al., 2020).
The main objective of the present study is to systematically investigate age
differences between spouses by using the most recent data from 12 countries
across South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan) and
Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand,
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Vietnam). The countries were chosen based on the availability of comparable
data over the last ten years. This resulted in the exclusion of countries such as Sri
Lanka and Singapore, which do not have comparable data. Both these countries
are notable because their marriage patterns are in some ways different from their
respective regional patterns. Sri Lanka has the highest age at marriage among
South Asian countries and has a special place in regional marriage patterns
(UNFPA, 2016). Singapore has the highest rate of non-marriage in Southeast
Asia and a high rate of cross-border marriages accounting for more than one-
third of marriages in 2016 (Hu & Yeung, 2018).
The paper focuses on describing the diverse patterns of the age gaps in the two
regions and examining how age at marriage and women’s education affect the
age gaps between spouses. The study adds to the comparative family
demographic literature and advances our understanding of age differences and
changes in the institution of marriage in Asia.
Age Homogamy and Heterogamy
Age homogamy refers to marriages in which the age of the spouses is similar.
Age heterogamy refers to marriages in which the age of the spouses is dissimilar,
irrespective of whether the husband or wife is older. Gendered age gaps refer to
either age hypergamous (husband is older than the wife) or age hypogamous
(wife is older than the husband).
A common pattern observed in many countries in the past was age hypergamy.
One explanation for the higher prevalence of age hypergamous marriages was
the premium placed on the economic stability of men and the reproductive
potential of women. Economic stability for men increased with age, while the
reproductive potential for women declined with age, a combination of these two
factors resulted in age hypergamous marriages (Carollo et al., 2019; Uggla &
Wilson, 2020). This link, however, weakened as women’s participation in non-
domestic work increased and as demand for children fell (Utomo, 2014). This
has reduced the preference for age hypergamous marriages and an increase in
age homogamous marriages. The contribution of husbands to family income has
narrowed with women’s work (Carollo et al., 2019). Recent studies show a
reversal of this pattern such that large age differences are now seen among the
poor (Gustafson & Fransson, 2015).
Age hypergamous marriages are more prevalent in societies that have higher
gender inequality. Highly patriarchal societies have large age gaps between
husband and wife compared to those with more flexible kinship systems
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(Carmichael, 2011; Casterline et al., 1986). Age hypergamous marriages are seen
as reflecting gender inequality at both the individual and societal levels
(Gustafson & Fransson, 2015). In traditional settings, marriages in which men
were older allowed men to exercise power and control over women (van de
Putte et al., 2009). Despite an association between patriarchal structures and age
hypergamy, Dribe and Nystedt (2017) reminded us that this should not be taken
to mean that age hypergamous marriages are solely due to greater gender
inequality. Age heterogamy and homogamy are affected by the changes in
ascriptive gender status, growing gender equality, and declining gender-
segregated roles within the family (Uddin et al., 2017).
Social norms and socio-cultural conditioning in many societies support husband-
older-than-wife marriages. As Gustafson and Fransson (2015) observe, husband-
older-than-wife marriages are deeply embedded in the social and economic
organization of many societies. These norms have persisted even in the absence
of economic and reproductive purposes of the past. In many societies, the large
age gaps between spouses are seen less negatively if it is due to the husband
being older than if it is due to the wife being older (Banks & Arnold, 2001).
However, social norms are not static. The changes in the norms propelled by
modernity, the rising status of women, and changes in the marriage system have
led to shifts in preference for age homogamous marriage (Kalmijn, 1998; Kolk,
2015). One such change in the marriage system has been the decline in parental
authority in choosing spouses and the shifts in marriage from being instrumental
to companionate and self-choice (Carmichael, 2011; Van de Putte et al., 2009).
Later marriages also mean that individuals are less swayed by parental
preferences and can make their own choices (England & McClintock, 2009).
These changes have had the effect of narrowing the age difference between
spouses.
One of the most important factors in explaining age differences is the age of the
husband and wife at the time of marriage. A consistent finding in the literature is
that the age difference between spouses varies by age of husband and wife at the
time of marriage (Esteve et al., 2009). Moreover, the husband’s age at marriage
is a significant predictor of age differences across several countries (Casterline et
al., 1986). The age difference by age at marriage is gendered. For men, age
difference increases the older the men are at the time of marriage. However, for
women, the age difference decreases the older the women are at the time of
marriage (England & McClintock, 2009). As observed by Kolk (2015), young
men and older women might face challenges in the marriage market in finding a
spouse. However, for men, this challenge is lessened with age, but for women,
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the situation is the opposite. This reflects the cultural double standard and the
gendered nature of the effect of age. As marriage age increases, it is likely that
the age differences between partners will narrow, and age homogamy will
become more common (Utomo, 2014). The effect of marriage age on age
differences might also vary by education or economic status of the partners. In
Korea, for instance, older women with higher levels of education were found to
be more likely to choose younger men (Sung et al., 2015).
The age difference between spouses varies by education, with large differences
seen among those with lower levels of education (Gustafson & Fransson, 2015).
Higher education provides women with greater agency and allows them to build
up their human capital, which in turn may narrow the age difference
(Carmichael, 2011). However, the relationship between education and age
difference is not the same across countries and varies depending on the status of
women (Casterline et al., 1986). Education influences age differences through
what has been termed the “institution effect” (Gustafson & Fransson, 2015).
This effect refers to the opportunities provided by educational institutions to
meet and form a relationship with others of similar age which might increase age
homogamous marriages (Blossfeld, 2009; Van Bavel, 2018). But education
might also delay marriage entry, which could have the opposite effect on the age
difference between spouses. The education, employment, and marriage age
transitions have complex and sometimes competing influences on age differences
between spouses. With the reverse gender gap in education (more women than
men having higher education), as seen in India, there has been a shift in
educational assortative patterns (Lin et al., 2020), and these are likely to have
also affected age differences between partners.
Age differences could be affected by demographic aspects of the marriage
markets. These include rates of marriage formation, including remarriages and
marital dissolution, as reported by Uggla and Wilson (2020) for Sweden. The
age gaps are affected by sex ratios in the marriage markets and the resulting
marriage squeeze. Drefahl (2010) observes that marriage squeeze can lead to
changes in age differences as it could alter the partner pool and availability of
suitably matched partners.
Analytical Approach
I use data from the most recent round of Demographic Health Surveys (DHS)
and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) from 12 countries in South and
Southeast Asia. DHS and MICS are cross-sectional surveys designed to collect
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nationally representative data using a multi-stage cluster sampling design. One of
the key aims of both surveys is to provide information on women and children.
The surveys include a separate women’s questionnaire covering questions on
marriage, education, fertility, health, and work administered to women aged 15
to 49 (Hancioglu & Arnold, 2013). The sample size for countries included in the
analyses ranged from 699,686 women in India to 9,827 in Vietnam.
Women who married for the first time in the five years preceding the survey year
were selected for the analyses. This number ranged from 17,902 for India to
1,399 for Vietnam. The ISO country codes and the number of women who met
the criteria are shown in brackets. DHS data are for Afghanistan 2015 (AFG;
6,534 women), Bangladesh 2017-18 (BGD; 3,351), Cambodia 2014 (KHM;
2,748), India 2015-16 (IND; 17,092), Indonesia 2017 (IDN; 5,598), Myanmar
2015-16 (MMR; 1,547), Nepal 2016 (NPL; 2,079), Pakistan 2017-18 (PAK;
3,284), Philippines 2017 (PHL; 2,687). MICS data are for Laos 2017 (LAO;
3,704), Thailand 2015-16 (THA; 2,781), and Vietnam 2014 (VNM; 1,399).
Both DHS and MICS have information on the age or date of first marriage for
women, and information on the age of the current husband. They do not have
the age of current marriage if the woman was married more than once. They
also do not have information on the age of the first husband if the woman was
married more than once or if the woman was divorced, separated, or widowed at
the time of the survey. As divorce and remarriages are not uncommon in some
of the countries under consideration, it was necessary to restrict the analyses to
the previous five years. The proportion of those who are divorced or remarried
within five years of marriage is not high in most countries included in the
analyses. Also, restricting to five years provides estimates of age differences that
are current and likely to be more precise and not affected by recall issues.
The analyses were conducted separately for each country. The main variable is
the age difference between spouses. This is calculated as the husband’s age
minus the wife’s age. The age difference is coded as age homogamous if the age
difference is plus or minus two years; age hypergamous if the age difference is
more than two years; age hypogamous if the age difference is lower than minus
two years (that is wife is older than the husband by more than two years). There
is no agreed-upon definition of age homogamy besides noting that they denote
marriages in which spouses are of similar ages. While there is no standard
definition of age homogamy, researchers have typically used age differences of
plus or minus 2 years in defining homogamous marriages (Esteve, et al. 2009;
Esteve et al. 2016, Dribe & Nystedt, 2017). Studies have used different numbers
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for similar ages, from zero years to mean age difference which in some countries
is as high as five years. The use of two years considers any possible age
misreporting of their own age at marriage or their husband’s age at marriage. It
is on the conservative side of measuring age homogamy.
The other major variable in the analyses is the educational status of women at
the time of the survey. For comparability, this is coded into three categories:
primary or lower (henceforth, primary), secondary, and higher. Descriptive
statistics and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression are used to analyze the
data. For the regression analyses, the dependent variable is the age difference
between spouses which can take a negative, zero, or positive value.
Findings
The context of marriage and education in the countries of the two regions is
presented first. The distribution of age at first marriage for women in the 12
countries is presented in the box plots in Figure 1. The median age at first
marriage for those who married in the five years preceding the survey ranged
from 17 in Bangladesh to 22 in Vietnam. In all countries, the median age at
which women marry is relatively early. But large within-country variations are
seen in countries such as Thailand, the Philippines, and Myanmar. With the
exception of Cambodia and Laos, in all other Southeast Asian countries nearly a
quarter of all women marry at or after the age of 25. The marriage age reported
in the figure is based on those who are married and should not be compared with
median marriage ages calculated based on all women. The median marriage age
based on married women will always be lower than those calculated for all
women.
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Figure 1
Marriage age of women, ordered by median marriage age
Figure 2 presents the educational composition of women who married in the five
years preceding the survey. There are striking differences in educational
composition across the countries. In Afghanistan, about 75% of women had only
primary education compared to less than 10% in Vietnam. The countries with
lower levels of education include Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. At the other
end of the education spectrum, the Philippines had the largest proportion of
women with higher education, closely followed by Thailand. Pakistan shows an
interesting pattern of a relatively large number of women who have higher
education (21%) and, at the same time, a significant proportion who have only
primary education (51%), reflecting educational inequality in the country.
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Figure 2
Educational composition of women, ordered by primary education level
Next, Figure 3 presents the average age difference between spouses. This is
calculated as the average of the difference between the husband’s and wife’s
ages. The average age difference ranges from 8.5 years in Bangladesh to 2.7
years in Myanmar. Excluding these two countries, for all other countries, the
average age difference is in a narrow range of three to five years. The confidence
intervals (CI) for the age differences were very narrow. India had the narrowest
interval with 95% CI for the age difference between 4.86 and 4.95 years, and
Myanmar had the widest interval between 2.48 and 2.89 years.
The four countries with the largest age difference are all from South Asia, and
the four countries with the lowest age difference are from Southeast Asia. The
two countries with the smallest age difference are Myanmar and the Philippines.
Myanmar has higher levels of non-marriage, and the Philippines has higher rates
of consensual unions. The largest age difference is in Bangladesh, which also has
the lowest median marriage age. There is over a three-year difference between
Bangladesh and its South Asian neighbors. The ordering of the countries appears
to have remained fairly unchanged since Casterline et al.’s study in 1986.
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Figure 3
Average age difference between spouses (husband’s minus wife’s age)
Another way of looking at age difference is by examining age heterogamy
presented in Figure 4. The percentage of homogamous marriages ranges from a
quarter to half of all marriages in all countries except for Bangladesh. In
Bangladesh, such marriages constitute about 6% of all marriages. This is
followed by India with 25%, reaching as high as 50% in Thailand. Hypergamous
marriages are the most common type of marriage in all countries. The sole
exception to this is Thailand, where homogamous and hypergamous marriages
are both equally common. In India, nearly three fourth of all marriages are
hypergamous marriages. Among Southeast Asian countries, hypergamous
marriages are most common in Indonesia at about 64%. Hypogamous marriages
are not common in the two regions. Only Myanmar reach 10% followed by
Cambodia at 6%. In all other countries, such marriages are well below 5%, and
in many South Asian countries lower than 1%.
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Figure 4
Age homogamous, hypergamous and hypogamous marriages, ordered by
homogamous marriages
Next, the age difference between spouses by men’s and women’s ages at
marriage is presented in Figure 5. In all countries, there is a negative relationship
between women’s age at marriage and age differences. The age gap is higher for
women marrying at younger ages, and this age gap narrows for women marrying
at older ages. The degree of narrowing age differences varies across countries. In
India, for instance, beyond the marriage age of 25, the age differences remain
stable. In Indonesia, there is a continuous decline in age differences with an
increase in marriage age for women. The pattern for men is the reverse of that of
women. For men who marry at later ages, the age difference is larger compared
to men who marry early. This pattern can be clearly seen in Bangladesh as there
is a steep increase in the age difference as the age at marriage for men increases.
A similar pattern could be seen in almost all other countries.
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Figure 5
Age difference by marriage age of men and women
In Figure 5, the age differences are calculated at different ages only if there are a
minimum of 50 cases. Therefore, the beginning and endpoints of the lines are
different for different countries. In some countries, there are few cases of early
marriage age. In others, there are very few cases of older marriage age.
Regression Analyses
The first regression is a bivariate regression with age difference as the dependent
variable and women’s age at marriage as the sole independent variable. The
findings from these analyses are presented in Figure 6. The figure shows the
regression coefficients for women’s age at marriage for each country and the
95% confidence intervals for the coefficients. If the confidence interval passes
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through the value of zero then women’s age at marriage does not have a
statistically significant effect on the age difference.
The figure shows that in all countries except Afghanistan, women’s marriage age
has a negative influence on age difference, and this effect is statistically
significant. A one-year increase in the women’s age at marriage lowers the age
difference by one to four months. Women’s marriage age has the largest effect in
Pakistan and Myanmar. Besides Afghanistan, where there is no statistically
significant effect, the next lowest effect is seen in India at lower than 2 months.
Figure 6
Effect of women’s age at marriage on age difference, regression coefficients with
95% confidence intervals
The next figure examines the influence of men’s age at marriage on the age
difference between spouses. In all countries, men’s age at marriage has a
significant influence, with a one-year increase leading to an increase in age
difference by 5 to 8 months. Men’s marriage age has a stronger influence on the
age difference than women’s marriage age. The strongest effect is seen in
Bangladesh. In the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, and Indonesia, a one-
year increase in men’s marriage age increases the age difference by nearly five
months.
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Figure 7
Effect of men’s age at marriage on age difference, regression coefficients with
95% confidence intervals
The regression estimates from bivariate models of women’s education and age
difference are presented in Figure 8. Women with primary and secondary
education are compared to women with higher education. With few exceptions,
those women with lower education have larger age differences than those with
higher education. The largest effect is seen in the Philippines: age difference for
women with primary education is 30 months more than those with higher
education. Comparing secondary education with higher education, the largest
effect is seen in Myanmar. Overall, the patterns suggest declining age differences
with an increase in education. The only country in which there is no difference is
Cambodia.
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Figure 8
Effect of women’s education on age difference, regression coefficients with 95%
confidence intervals
Figure 9 presents estimates of the effect of education on age difference from a
multivariate model that controls for age at marriage for women. In contrast to
the estimates in the bivariate model seen in the previous figure, almost all the
educational differences are no longer statistically significant in most countries.
The major exceptions are Indonesia and the Philippines, where education
continues to have a negative association. In India, the positive association for
primary vs higher education persists when women’s age at marriage is accounted
for. Overall, the findings suggest a strong role of marriage age in mediating the
relationship between education and age difference. The estimates of the effect of
women’s marriage age from the same model (not shown here) are very similar to
the bivariate estimates presented earlier in Figure 6. That is, after controlling for
education, the effect of marriage age does not change.
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Figure 9
Effect of women’s education on age difference, adjusted for women’s marriage
age, regression coefficients with 95% confidence intervals
To further explore the relationship between education, marriage age and age
differences, the next model adds an interaction term to test whether the effect of
marriage age is different for different education groups. Figure 10 presents the
estimates from the interaction model for education and marriage age. In most
countries, the patterns reveal a negative slope for all education groups. In
general, women marrying at later ages have smaller age gaps, and this does not
vary by education level of women. There are exceptions to this trend. In
Afghanistan, for higher-educated women, the age gap widens as the age of
marriage increases. In India, for those with primary education, marriage age
does not have an influence on the age difference.
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Figure 10
Effect of women’s education and women’s marriage age on age difference,
regression coefficients
The analyses of education, marriage age, and age difference could be expanded
by analyzing not just education for women but also for men. Specifically, we can
examine the relationship between age homogamy and educational homogamy.
For this analysis, I define educational homogamy as marriages in which both
spouses have the same educational level, educational hypergamous marriages as
marriages in which women marry up, and hypogamous marriages as those in
which women marry someone with a lower education level than themselves.
Data for husband’s education are not available for MICS countries, and
therefore the analysis is restricted to nine countries instead of twelve.
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To simplify the analyses, I examine the relationship between educational
homogamous marriages (yes or no) and age homogamous marriages (yes or no)
using logistic regression models. The results are shown in Figure 11. The odds
ratios presented indicate that the relationship is weak or statistically insignificant
for all countries in the two regions. This is to say that there is no significant
relationship between educational homogamy and age homogamy for countries
in the region.
Figure 11
Odds ratios of age homogamous marriage for those in educational homogamous
marriage
Discussion
The paper provides a detailed examination of age gap between spouses in South
and Southeast Asia using the most recent data available. The findings reveal the
diverse patterns across countries in the two regions as well as certain similarities,
such as the low rates of hypogamous marriages. In countries in the two regions,
the age difference between spouses is influenced strongly by age at marriage.
Men’s age at marriage has a considerably stronger influence on the age
difference than women’s age at marriage. As seen in other countries, an increase
in men’s marriage age increases the age difference, while the reverse is true for
women’s age at marriage. Further, the paper examined the role of education on
19
the age difference by examining if the effect of marriage age varies by education
and if educational homogamy has an influence on age homogamy. In both these
analyses, the results suggest that educational differences do not have a significant
effect.
Age preference, as Hu and Qian (2019) observe, is a “personalized preference for
a ‘suitable’ spouse; such preferences are often informed by the social, economic,
and cultural institutions in which the marital institution is embedded” (p. 57).
The diverse economic, social, and cultural contexts of the two regions have
shaped individuals’ age preferences. These include ascriptive gender status,
familism, and family systems in the two regions (Uddin et al., 2017). Besides
socioeconomic and cultural aspects, age differences between spouses have been
explained using a variety of perspectives, from social evolutionary perspectives
to those related to the marriage market factors, including the age-sex structure of
the population (Bouchet-Valat, 2015). The findings in this paper call for further
work to chart the trends and situate the changes within the broader context of
the societies in the two regions.
This paper examined changes at one point in time. But a comparison with
Casterline et al.’s (1986) estimates suggests that the age differences have not
radically changed over the last thirty-plus years. While the marriage system and
many other aspects that could influence age differences between partners have
changed, the changes in age differences appear to be rather modest. This is not
unique to South and Southeast Asia. In many European countries, the age
difference patterns have also remained stable over the last few decades (Drefahl,
2010; Dribe and Nystedt 2017). But as observed by Esteve et al. (2016), trends in
age homogamy have changed over time in some countries. In the case of China,
Mu and Xie (2014) document an inverted U shape relationship between
economic growth and age homogamy. They note that during the initial phase of
economic growth, age homogamy had increased, and during the later phases,
there was a reversal of this pattern. Further research could usefully explore the
changes in age differences over time for the countries in the two regions.
The current study only examined the age gap between spouses for women in
their first marriage. The age gap patterns for remarriages are likely to differ from
first marriages and need to be investigated. Also, the study excluded marriages
that were dissolved within the first five years of marriage through divorce,
separation, or widowhood. To develop a fuller picture of the age gap would
require investigating both first and subsequent marriages and including
marriages that have ended. In addition, the age gap was calculated based on the
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reported age at marriage in the surveys. Misreporting of age at marriage can
potentially distort the measurement of age differences. In a province in
Bangladesh, for instance, Streatfield et al. (2015) report a nearly two-year
difference between women’s actual age at marriage and what was reported in a
survey. A limitation of this study is that it did not consider the potential
implication of age misreporting. This would require further investigation of the
quality of age reporting in each of the 12 surveys.
The findings draw attention to the effect of marriage age, education, and gender
on the age difference. A consistent finding across countries is the strong effect of
men’s marriage age on the age difference. While the findings show educational
differences, most of these differences are explained by differences in marriage
timing across different educational groups. As educational levels increase and
marriage is delayed, the age gap between spouses is likely to narrow.
The findings suggest a possible link between gender egalitarianism and age
differences between spouses. The age differences are larger in countries that are
more gender unequal such as in South Asia and lower in countries that are more
gender equal such as in Southeast Asia. This can also be seen in the high
prevalence of hypergamous marriages in all South Asian countries. Besides
gender, the socio-economic contexts of the countries could have an effect on the
age difference. The rate of economic growth, levels of labor force participation
among both men and women, and educational levels are likely to have an
influence on age differences. In this study, data from each country were analyzed
separately. Future research could be conducted by pooling the data to investigate
country effects.
21
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