Female Education Expansion in Switzerland and Marriage Market Dynamics

Attrition, Adaptation or Masked Hypergamy?

Abstract

Concerns that women’s rapid educational expansion might destabilize marriage markets have become increasingly salient across advanced economies. Using all waves of the Swiss Household Panel (1999–2024), this study shows no indication of a marriage squeeze for highly educated women. Instead, rising educational homogamy among highly educated men and increased upward partnering among medium-educated men have absorbed the expanding pool of highly educated women, even as traditional hypergamic patterns remain visible in the income dimension.