Educational Discrepancy and Its Impact on Couples’ Subjective Wellbeing in China

Marriage provides individuals with many benefits that may make individuals happier, and many researchers have reported that married respondents, particularly men, usually report higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction than unmarried respondents. This study focuses on why married people have higher levels of subjective well-being, specifically whether education differences between spouses have an effect on subjective well-being. Drawing on data from the CGSS2015, binary logistic models were used to examine gender asymmetry in educational discrepancy among first married people. Compared with those who had same education level with their spouse, people who had an education gap with their partner appeared to be happier. Both males and females reported greater subjective well-being when their wives had more education than they did. However, females reported greater subjective well-being when their husbands had more education than they did. The educational discrepancies have different effects on subjective well-being among men and women. This may be related to the traditional Chinese culture and the maximum benefits in marriage.