The variability of age at first marriage across birth cohort and education level: the case of Taiwan

Abstract

ABSTRACT The variability of age at first marriage has implications for the destandardisation of life course and the deinstitutionalisation of the marriage institution. Previous studies, based on Western societies, suggest a more dispersed variability in recent cohorts. However, despite the rise in women’s education, the universal ideology of formal marriage, the powerful link between formal marriage and childbearing, and collectivism in East Asian societies may constrain variability in marriage timing. Also, women with different levels of education experience different life course sequences and interactions with marriage, leading to heterogeneous changes in the variability of age at first marriage. Using the Women’s Marriage, Fertility, and Employment Survey in Taiwan, this article presents a representative case of changing marriage and childbearing behaviours in East Asia. Our results show that the variability among women without a high school degree has become more dispersed in more recent birth cohorts. In contrast, variability of age at first marriage among highly educated women has remained consistent. The educational differences became more salient in recent cohorts, especially in women born after 1960. Our findings contribute to the literature on how the life course and the institution of marriage have diverged across education levels over birth cohorts in East Asia.