Educational assortative mating in Hong Kong: 1981-2011

This article documents trends in educational assortative mating using samples of the 1981 to 2011 Hong Kong population censuses/bycensuses, with a particular focus on specific education groups and the Hong Kong-mainland China cross-border marriages. Results show an overall declining trend in educational assortative mating, which is driven mostly by the great increase of intermarriage between those with associate qualifications and those with lower secondary or less levels of education. Growing number of cross-border marriages is also accompanied by the substantive decline in educational homogamy for women from mainland China in recent years. It implies that immigrants from mainland China are more likely to exchange education for the Hong Kong permanent residency by marrying spouses with less education in Hong Kong in later periods. These findings suggest that a general declining trend in educational assortative mating does not necessarily indicate an increased openness of a society.