Differences in occupational homogamy by race, ethnicity, and national origin: A social mobility strategy for Asian Americans

Abstract

BACKGROUND Rising median age at marriage and increasing lifestyle differentials across occupations suggest that occupations increasingly offer important signals of the economic and cultural resources of potential spouses. Scant attention has been paid to occupational assortative mating in recent years. Rarer are studies about racial, ethnic, and nationality differences in occupational homogamy rates. OBJECTIVE We document variations in occupational homogamy rates by race, ethnicity, and national origin and identify factors contributing to group differences in occupational homogamy rates. METHODS Using data from the 2006 and 2008–2019 American Community Survey, we compared occupational homogamy rates by race, ethnicity, and nationality. We also used logistic regression models to identify the correlates of occupational homogamy and used Fairlie decomposition models to assess the