The Correlation Between Husband's and Wife's Education: Canada, 1971-1996

We present a measure of the correlation between the education levels of spouses based on a bivariate ordered probit model. The change in this correlation over time can be measured while controlling for the large changes in the educational attainment levels. The model is estimated with data from 20 Surveys of Consumer Finances in Canada over 1971-1996. Our main findings are a reduction in this correlation among younger couples beginning in the 1980s, and an inverted U- shaped effect of the spouses' age difference on the correlation, with the maximum correlation occurring approximately when the spouses' ages are equal.