Parental response to marital sorting and the gender gap in education

This study investigates the educational gender gap in India and its relationship to educational homogamy. Using nationally representative data, we compare educational outcomes between boys and girls within the same household, while flexibly accounting for differences across age groups and states. We find a robust positive association between educational homogamy and gender equality: higher educational homogamy is linked to a narrowing educational gender gap, a result that holds even after controlling for local socio-economic conditions that might otherwise confound the association. The results suggest that marriage market dynamics shape parental investment in children’s education – particularly in India, where parents play a central role in both schooling and marital choices. These findings highlight how marriage market incentives may reduce gender disparities in education: when educational homogamy between spouses rises, parents may be incentivised to seek higher levels of education for their daughters to improve their marriage prospects.