Jan 7th 2011 By Jeremy Taylor

Women Are Increasingly 'Marrying Up'

Our happy hour fact to amaze your drinking buddies with.

More women are marrying men who are better-educated than they are and have more earning potential than they do.

A study by the Centre for Policy Studies, a think tank in England, found that in 1949, 20 percent of women married men with significantly higher levels of eduction (and thus more earning potential) than their own. That figure had jumped to 38 percent by the late '90s. While the data in the study was taken from Great Britain, this same trend of "marrying up" exists in the rest of Europe, Australia and the United States.

Dr. Catherine Hakim, the sociologist who authored the study, also found evidence that, despite this trend, women continue to downplay that they are looking for a higher-income partner. Hakim believes women do this because it's "politically incorrect" for them to give the impression they want to be a housewife.

Bad news for any fellow earning a humble blogger's salary, if we do say so ourselves.

Tags: Catherine Hakim - CatherineHakim - Centre for Policy Studies - CentreForPolicyStudies - Marriage - Money

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Saturday 08 January

By Lassie

Neutral

And will continue to do so, perhaps unconsciously, as long as the economy is in the crapper.

And before you trolls come barging on th complain about gold-digging bitches, all other things being equal, why wouldn't a woman marry up, if she had a choice? I'm not talking real gold diggers after mini-Donald Trumps, but marrying a guy with a good job is a necessity if a woman is the type to a) marry and b) have children. Just to get by in life, not spendingspendingspending. Marrying a part-time gas station attendant will get you nowhere, no matter if he has awesome body parts and his mommy thinks he's cute!

Sunday 09 January

By CO

Highest Rank

We've evolved but we still share ties to our Early Modern Human behavior....

Monday 10 January

By LIuxingyugfuty

Neutral

I know we women have lots of standards to pick up a man, and there's one w eb si te that can almost me et all our different demands:( B-l-a-c-k-w-h-i-t-e-C-u-p-i-d / c-0-m ) my sisiter told me this; it worked for her, it worked for me; and i'm sure it's gonna work for u, buddy!!so long as they can support them selves and kids.

Sunday 09 January

By Jim Smith

Neutral

It should be obvious that the best thing for the next generation is to be raised by a mother who can devote full time to their care, courtesy of a man who makes enough dough to support them all. The mother's paycheck is not nearly as important as the mother's presence.

Sunday 09 January

By DebR

Neutral

I think of my partner/husband like I think of my other friends and associates - don't you want to be around someone that will stretch you intellectually? Forget the wallet that's just an outcome, the source is what's going on in the brain and what they do with it!

Monday 10 January

By Charles Frith

Highest Rank

The obvious corollary is that more men are marrying down.

Sunday 09 January

By Cam

Neutral

Jim:
What about the alternative? Is it not just as important for the next generation to be raised by a father who can devote full time to their care? Courtesy of a woman who can make enough dough to support them? A fathers presence is more important than a mothers pay check? - Devils advocate there.

However.
Personally I have married a girl that will earn more than me, she already does, that's not to say that I don't earn good money to. When we have a kid, we will share time off etc so we both raise the kid and give it the necessary time while still giving us both time to continue our jobs.

I suppose I'm saying for both parents, mother(s) or father(s) it is just as important they both take the necessary time and both pay checks are ultimately unimportant, so long as they can support them selves and kids.

As to the marrying up thing, I think we all try don't we? I mean hell girls/guys go for hot chicks/blokes, girls/guys go for rich guys/girls, so on. We do the best we can and get the best catch we can.

Monday 28 March

By Plutogirl

Neutral

"Marrying up?" Why are you still using terms that belong in the 16th century? A female PhD in astronomy used this term to try to diss me, and in complete unprofessional mode, argued that a male astronomer's wife (who is not an astronomer herself) is more "up" than I am. Unlike the wife, am an astronomer, and I want nothing to do with that male. In fact, I have no interest in marrying at all. We are all equal, and there is no such thing as marrying "up" or "down" unless someone is looking to build a bridge to the 16th century.