Educational assortative mating in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary between 1976 and 2003

The paper deals with educational homogamy over years within the last quarter of the 20(th) century in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. All the marriages entered into in these countries between 1976 and 2003 (in three-year periods) are analyzed and the temporal and spatial variation of educational homogamy is explored. Log-linear and log-multiplicative models are used. The major aim of the paper is to answer the question on how educational homogamy developed in post-socialist countries before 1989 as well as following it and how individual post-socialist countries differ among themselves on the basis of these developments. Results show that in terms of spatial variation both in 1976 and in 2003 relative educational homogamy was the lowest in the Czech Republic, it was somewhat higher in Hungary and the highest in Slovakia. In terms of temporal variation in all three countries one can observe the same development which has the shape of "U". From 1976 to the beginning of the 1990s educational homogamy was on the decrease, during the first half of the 1990s it reached its minimum and from the second half of the 1990s it strengthened either rapidly (in the Czech Republic and Slovakia) or only gradually (in the case of Hungary). In all the countries under study the development of educational homogamy also involved the transformation of the pattern of educational assortative mating which, however, is not the same in all the countries.