This study examines changes in variability of age at first marriage for women across birth cohorts and education levels in Taiwan. Taiwan may have experienced a destandardization in the life course and the second demographic transition after World War II, leading to a more dispersed age at first marriage; however, collectivism, the ideology of formal marriage, and the strong association between marriage and fertility may constrain this variability. In addition to estimating each cohort-education group’s dispersion in age at marriage, this study employs logistic and multinominal regression models to investigate how women’s birth cohort, education level, employment experience and occupational status before marriage affect the relative timing of first marriage. The results from a pooled nationally representative survey show that, unlike in Western societies, age variability is not widening across birth cohorts in Taiwan. However, education level and employment status play an important role in the variability of age at first marriage. The findings suggest that the variability of women’s age at first marriage in Taiwan is still significantly affected by the strong association between marriage, fertility, and economic resources. Destandardization in the life course and the second demographic transition in Taiwan differs from that seen in Western societies.

This study investigates the gender difference in housework activities among never-married American women and men living solo (one-person households), using 2005-2019 nationally representative data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS). We find that women in solo households spend more time on housework and old women and men spend more time on it, compared to their younger counterparts. Results also show that education only plays a modest role in time use in solo households, contrary to the negative association of education among partnered women and men. Our findings that influences of economic resources on housework are gender-neutral in solo households suggest dyadic interactions and processes gender resources – more than women’s resources being discounted when they enter a relationship. And gender socialization – and engagement in behaviors coded as feminine – may be more acceptable for younger adults living alone.

BACKGROUNDThe variability of age at first marriage reflects how likely people are to marry at similar ages. As the family institution changes in Taiwan, it may have experienced a destandardization in the life course. With the second demographic transition, this may imply a more dispersed age at first marriage; however, collectivism, the ideology of formal marriage, and the strong association between marriage and fertility may constrain this variability.OBJECTIVE We examine changes in variability of age at first marriage for women across birth cohorts and education levels in Taiwan.METHODSThis study uses the Women’s Marriage, Fertility, and Employment Survey in Taiwan. We employ regression models to investigate how women’s birth cohort and education level affect their relative timing of first marriage. RESULTS The results show that age variability is widening in recent cohorts in Taiwan. However, unlike the findings in Western societies, the trend is consistent across education levels, and highly-educated women in recent cohorts have a relatively restricted the variability of age at first marriage.CONCLUSIONSThe findings suggest that the variability of women’s age at first marriage in Taiwan is still significantly affected by the strong association between marriage and fertility. CONTRIBUTION The findings demonstrate that destandardization in the life course and the second demographic transition in East Asian contexts differs from that seen in Western societies.

Previous studies showed that assortative mating occurred based on different social dimensions, such as age, education, and race or ethnicity. However, these studies ignored the potential impact of place of origin on people’s place identity and habitus and their associations with assortative mating in the United States. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), in conjunction with the Current Population Survey (CPS), this study finds a clear pattern of assortative mating based on place of origin. Moreover, the results suggest that there are regional differences in assortative mating by place of origin, especially for women. Also, the length of residence shapes people’s habitus and thus the pattern of homogeneous matching by place of origin. The significant effects of race or ethnicity and the conditions of the marriage market before marriage vary by scale of place and gender. These findings suggest that place of origin is another dimension of assortative mating.