Van de Putte, BartVan Poppel, FransVanassche, SofieJidkova, SvetlanaEeckhaut, MiekeOris, MichelMatthijs, KoenSánchez Domínguez, María Isabel2025-01-292025-01-292009-12-01Van De Putte, B., Van Poppel, F., Vanassche, S., Sanchez, M., Jidkova, S., Eeckhaut, M., Oris, M., & Matthijs, K. (2009). The rise of age homogamy in 19th century western europe. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71(5), 1234-1253. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00666.x0022-244510.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00666.xhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/116939In many parts of Western Europe the age at first marriage and the level of celibacy declined in the second half of the 19th century. This weakening of the European marriage pattern (EMP) can be interpreted as a ‘‘classic’’ response to the increase of the standard of living, but a more far-reaching interpretation is that the erosion of the EMP was part of a cultural shift characterized by the rise of a new, less instrumental and more egalitarian view on marriage and partner selection. The latter vision implies the increase of the preference for a same age marriage. We test this explanation by using a combined Belgian-Dutch data set of marriage certificates (N = 766,412). Our findings corroborate the ‘‘cultural shift thesis.engAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/journal article1741-3737https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00666.xhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00666.xmetadata only access316.362316.42141.72LoveMarriageSocial trends/social changeUnion formationDemografía (Sociología)Familia (Sociología)Cambio socialFeminismo52 Demografía6309.04 Matrimonio6309.05 Clases Sociales6309.09 Posición Social de la Mujer