本篇預計學習
分鐘
60
“
學歷，逐漸成為婚姻選擇中一個重要的因素，但是調查顯示，教育水平相當的人成雙對了，對社會可能不是一件好事……
”
Assortative mating --- Matching theory
選型婚配——匹配理論
【1】"HERE'S what nobody is telling you: Find a husband on campus before you graduate," wrote Susan Patton, a human-resources consultant, in 2013. In an infamous letter to the editor of Princeton’s student newspaper, Ms Patton warned female students at the university that they will "never again be surrounded by this concentration of men who are worthy of [them]". Critics responded harshly. Ms Patton recalls that she was branded "a traitor to feminism, a traitor to co-education and an elitist".
assortative：[ə'sɔ:trtətɪv] adj.相配的，相稱的，協調的
mating：[ˈmeɪtɪŋ] n.交配
campus ：[ˈkæmpəs] n.校園；校區
infamous：[ˈɪnfəməs] adj.聲名狼藉的；無恥的，傷風敗俗的
worthy：[ˈwɜ:rði] adj. 有價值的；可尊敬的；值得的；配得上的
harshly：[ˈhɑrʃlɪ] adv. 粗糙地；粗暴地；刺耳地
traitor：[ˈtreɪtə(r)] n.叛徒；賣國賊；背叛者；背信棄義的人
Some say he's a traitor to the working class.
一些人說他是工人階級的叛徒。
feminism：[ˈfɛməˌnɪzəm] n.女權主義;爭取女權的運動
elitist：[ɪ'li:tɪst] adj.優秀人才的；傑出者的 n.優秀人材；傑出人物；傑出人物統治論的鼓吹者
2013年，一位人力資源顧問蘇珊·巴頓說：“這一點沒有人會告訴你：畢業前在校園裡找一個丈夫。” 在一封給普林斯頓學生報編輯的聲名狼藉的信中，巴頓女士警告大學裡的女生們，她們畢業後“再也不會被這麼多與之相配的男性包圍了”。批評者們對此反應強烈。巴頓女士回憶說，她被冠以“女權主義的叛徒、共同教育的叛徒和精英主義論者”的稱號。
［2］Economists might offer yet another critique of Ms Patton’s letter: it was largely unnecessary. It is clear to academics that people tend to marry spouses with similar levels of education. They also know that "assortative mating", as the practice is called in the jargon, is exacerbating income inequality. In America, Britain, Denmark, Germany and Norway, they have found that household income would be more evenly spread if couples were less keen to marry similar sorts.
critique：[krɪˈtik] n.評論文章，評論；批評，批判 vt.批判；發表評論
academic：[ˌækəˈdɛmɪk] adj.學院的，大學的，學會的 n.學者
spouse：[spaʊs] n.配偶，夫或妻
jargon：[ˈdʒɑ:gən] n.行話；行業術語；黑話
Expert often confuse laymen with their jargon.
專家們常常用行話把外行弄得稀裡糊塗。
exacerbate：[ɪgˈzæsəbeɪt] vt.激怒；使惡化；使加重
Depopulation exacerbates the problem.
人口的急劇減少使得該問題更加嚴重。
household：[ˈhaʊshoʊld] n.家庭；家庭，戶
經濟學家可以對巴頓女士的信提出另一種批評：信中所說觀點很大程度上是不必要的。學者們認為，人們傾向於和有著相近教育水平的人結婚。他們也知道，這種在專業術語中被稱作選型婚配的行為，加劇了收入不平等。學者發現，在美國、英國、丹麥、德國和挪威，如果夫妻不執著於和相似水平的人結婚，家庭收入分佈會更平均。
［3］Less clear, however, is whether or not assortative mating is on the rise. Answering this question is hard, because the ratio of educated men to educated women has shifted over time. That university-educated men are now more likely to marry university-educated women may not show a change inspousal preferences. It may simply reflect the increased number of women with degrees.
spousal：['spaʊsl] n.結婚，婚禮 adj.結婚的
學術界不清楚的是，選型婚配是否在上升。這個問題很難回答，因為受過教育人群的男女比例隨著時間而改變了。現在受過大學教育的男性更願意和受過大學教育的女性結婚，但這可能無法顯示配偶偏好上的變化，只是反映了高學歷女性數目的上升。
［4］The latest iteration of the debate comes in a recent paper by Pierre-André Chiappori and Bernard Salanié, of Columbia University, and Yoram Weiss, of Tel Aviv University, which argues that assortative mating is indeed growing. They note that in the mid-20th century households were primarily concerned with divvying up chores . Since then, inventions like the washing machine and frozen food have meant that people can spend less time on housework. At the same time, computers have increased the demand for skilled labour. The authors argue that parents worried about their children's future now have to focus on raising the brightest youngsters possible, and one of the surest ways to have bright children is to marry a bright spouse. By building an economic model which takes into account these shifting preferences and testing it against census data, the authors conclude that Americans born in 1972 do indeed have a stronger preference for better-educated partners than those born in 1943.
iteration：[ˌɪtəˈreɪʃn] n.反覆；重述；重述的事；[計算機]循環
divvy：[ˈdɪvi] v.分配 n.分攤，分配，部分
chore：[tʃɔ:(r)] n.零星工作（尤指家常雜務）；令人討厭的或繁重的工作
He is doing household chores.
他正在做家務。
surest：[ʃʊərɪst] adj.一定（ sure的最高級 ）；無疑的；肯定要做某事的；不容置疑的
census：[ˈsensəs] n.人口普查，統計;人口財產調查
哥倫比亞大學的皮誒爾·安德烈·基亞波里和伯納德·薩拉尼，以及特拉維夫大學的約拉姆·韋斯等人近日的一篇論文，引發了這場爭論的新一輪循環。該論文提出選型婚配的確在增長。他們指出20世紀中期家庭主要關心的是如何分配家務。從那時起，洗衣機和冷凍食品等發明意味著人們可以少花些時間在做家務上。同時，電腦也增長了技術型勞動力的需求。論文的作者認為，為孩子未來操心的父母們，現在必須關注如何培養最聰明的孩子，而培養聰明孩子的方法之一就是找一個聰明的配偶。該論文建立了一個經濟模型，該模型考慮了這些變化偏好，測試了人口普查數據。他們得出一個結論：1972年出生的美國人，確實比1943年出生的美國人，更偏好有著良好教育的另一半。
［5］One implication of assortative mating is that most estimates of the returns on investment in a university education err on the low side, as they fail to take spouses' earnings into account. Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York finds that the annualised return on investment for a four-year bachelor’s degree in America rose sharply between 1980 and 2000 but has since stabilised at around 15%. Our calculations show that, if a spouse's income is added to a person's own, the returns to higher education have increased steadily since 2000, now reaching 18%. Similar patterns hold for both men and women. Gender inequality in lecture halls has faded; household income inequality has widened. Marital choices are exacerbating household income inequality.
err：[ɜ:(r)] vi.犯錯，做錯；走上歧途；犯罪
He erred from the right path.
他誤入歧途。
bachelor：[ˈbætʃələ(r)] n.學士;單身漢
marital：[ˈmærɪtl] adj.婚姻的，夫妻（間）的
選型婚配的一個影響是，對於大學教育的投資的回報，大部分估計結果都偏低，因為其中沒有考慮到配偶的收入（也是一種回報）。《紐約聯邦儲備銀行》的研究發現，1980至2000年間美國四年制學士學位的年投資回報率急劇上升，但此後它就穩定在15%左右。我們的計算結果表明，如果將一個人的收入和其配偶的收入加起來，2000年以來高等教育的回報率就在穩步上升，現在已經達到了18%。男性和女性這方面是相似的。演講廳內的性別不平等已經減弱，家庭收入不平等則擴大了。婚姻的選擇加劇了家庭收入不平等。
關於如何選擇伴侶，每個人都會有自己的標準和判斷，以自己的幸福為出發點是很合理的。文中提到的收入不平等現象，背後根源應該歸為教育不均的影響，如何使得教育資源分配更加公平，就不是個人能夠決定的問題了。
英文原文：
http://www.economist.com
講解：霞姐 / Tiassa / Angel
翻譯 / 編排 / 校對：Angel
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