Mexican Migration and Educational Assortative Mating in a Binational Context

Kate H. Choi, University of California, Los Angeles
Robert D. Mare, University of California, Los Angeles

Mexican migration to the U.S. is characterized by relatively high rates of circular migration of men and relatively low rates of migration by women. Thus, the volume and pattern of Mexican migration may affect not only the level and timing of union formation, but also the kinds of unions that are formed in sending communities as well as receiving communities in the U.S. and elsewhere in Mexico. In this paper, we examine the relationship between migration and marriage patterns by comparing distributions of marital statuses and assortative mating patterns in 1990 and 2000 in communities within Mexico and the United States that vary in their migration patterns. Marriage rates are lower among Mexicans living in receiving communities with high levels of migration and sending communities with low levels of migration. Educational resemblance is higher for Mexicans in receiving communities with high levels of migration and lower for those in sending communities with low levels of migration.