Validating age preferences for marriage market analysis

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Description/Abstract

The paper examines the validity of a set of age preference data, provided by a British dating agency, in several respects: (a) for measuring recent levels of partner supply in England and Wales; (b) for measuring partner availability in the USA; and (c) for assessing time trends in partner supply in the two countries. The mean preferences correspond well with observed age differences at marriage in the US in 1990 and in England and Wales in 1991. The assumption of relatively stable age preferences through the twentieth century in both countries is shown to be reasonable. The dating agency preferences perform better than alternative, conventional weighting schemes in predicting observed age differences at marriage in Britain and the US.