Marriage choices and social reproduction: The interrelationship between partner selection and intergenerational socioeconomic mobility in 19th-century Sweden

This article studies the relationship between partner selection and socioeconomic status (SES) attainment and mobility in five rural parishes in southern Sweden, 1815-1894. Three different aspects of partner selection are considered: age, social origin, and geographical origin. We use an individual-level database containing information on the SES origin (parental land holding and occupation), age difference, and place of birth of the married couple. The results show a powerful association between partner selection and SES attainment and mobility. Social heterogamy was particularly important, but age heterogamy and geographic exogamy was also clearly related to both SES attainment and mobility. 1 Associate Professor, PhD, Centre for Economic Demography and Department of Economic History , Lund University. P.O. Box 7083. 22007 Lund, Sweden. E-mail: [email protected]. Phone: +46462224677. Fax: +46462227339. 2 Professor, PhD, Department of Economic History. University of Gothenburg. E-mail: [email protected]. Dribe & Lundh: Marriage choices and social reproduction 348 http://www.demographic-research.org