The Research On Spouse Age Difference At First Marriage And The Analysis Of The Factors

The spouse age difference at first marriage is the essential element to analyze maritalstatus. In specific period and area, the spouse age difference has certain stability, andclosely related with economic, social and cultural background. By using sample data from2010‘s Chinese general social survey (CGSS) and applying descriptive statistics method,the paper describes the spouse age difference from the couples which cohabitation,married or separated but not divorce in their first marriage in2010. Combined with theobservation on different regions and first marriage ages, the paper tries to get a generalunderstanding about the spouse age difference‘s present situation and development trendin China. Also, it adopts chi-square analysis methods such as interactive classification,correlation analysis and bivariate statistical methods to discuss the various factorsaffecting the spouse age difference. The factors mainly include the first marriage age, levelof education (and parents’ level of education), ethnic and religious beliefs (and parents’religious beliefs and religious environment). Finally, the paper prepares to use multiplelinear regression analysis to investigate the above mentioned factors‘influences on thespouse age difference in their first marriage in China.The conclusion of this study is that, firstly,―male older than female‖is still theChinese current leading marriage mode, and the couple age difference concentrated withinthe age of3. The eastern, central and western regions‘respective economic and socialdevelopment level differs, which has some effects on marriage couples age. Secondly,from the1940s to the early21st century, when the age difference at first marriage on theage of7and above, couple quantity proportion presents "U" type trend of development.Thirdly, the influence factors of difference between urban and rural areas and the accounton the marriage for spouse age difference is not obvious, which goes the opposite ofprevious research conclusion. Fourthly, the couple age difference is greatly influenced by the first marriage age, and male‘s first marriage age influence is more obvious than that offemale. Whether male or female, with the improvement of education level, the spouse agedifference has a tendency to shrink. Finally, ethnic and religious factors have effects onfirst marriage spouse age difference.By applying multiple linear regression analysis to make stepwise regressions on eachvariable, the paper comes to a conclusion, that the first marriage age and education levelare two mainly influential factors which have the overall interpretation for the couple agedifference. For male respondents, the nested model fitting effect and explanatory power isbetter. So, from the angle of male to analyze the first marriage spouse age difference ismore likely to come to a stronger explanatory power conclusion.