Measurement of the marriage squeeze and its application.

Abstract

The author first examines two measurements of the marriage squeeze, namely, the sex ratio measure developed by Akers, Heer, and Grossbard-Schechtman and the S measure constructed by Schoen. Using these measures, Japanese data for the years 1950 to 1980 are analyzed, showing a marriage squeeze for females in the first two decades and for males in the 1970s. Explanations for these findings are suggested, and the relative merits of the two methods are considered. (summary in JPN)