More people are deliberately basing their choice for a mate on their level of education, according to a new Statistics Canada study.
The study finds that the rate of marriages among those of comparable education has increased in both Canada and the United States over the past three decades.
In Canada, 54 per cent of couples younger than 35 had the same level of education in 2001, up from 42 per cent in 1971.
In the United States, 55 per cent of marriages among adults in the same age bracket consisted of couples with the same level of education in 2000, up from 49 per cent in 1970.
The study, which is based on census data, also find wives now have a higher average educational level than their husbands, while the opposite was true three decades ago.
However, the study found that changes in the distribution of educational levels among men and women accounted for only a small portion of the increase in educational homogamy -- which is described as the tendency of like to marry like.
Rather, the increase in the overall level of educational homogamy reflects the fact that more people are choosing their mates on their education levels, the study says.
"In other words, there has been an increase in the level of educational homogamy over and above what would be expected from the narrowed gender gap in educational attainment," Statistics Canada says.
The study also reported that marriage between people of varying education occurred mainly between adjacent levels, while intermarriage across more than two levels is rare.
In 2001, 54 per cent of young Canadian couples had the same education level.
However, 33 per cent of couples differed by one educational level, while only 12 per cent differed by two levels.
Less than two per cent of couples consisted of those whose education differed by more than two levels.
In Canada, the rate of marriage between the university-educated and those with some post-secondary education fell by 38 per cent.
Meanwhile in the United States, the rate fell by 45 per cent.
Similarly, the marriage rate between high school graduates and those who had completed less than high school fell by 30 per cent in the United States and by 58 per cent in Canada.
The study also reported that less university-educated women had partners with comparable degrees.
In 2001, for example, only 53 per cent of young Canadian university-educated married women had partners with comparable degrees.
In contrast, 68 per cent of university-educated men were married to women with degrees.
At the other end of the educational spectrum, the share of male high school graduates who married better-educated women quadrupled from 13 per cent to 56 per cent over three decades.
Among female high school graduates, the percentage marrying better educated men increased from 30 per cent to 41 per cent in Canada.
The study, which uses data from U.S. and Canadian census files, focuses on all unions among young adults under the age of 35.
