90年代以来中国夫妇年龄差变动趋势及其原因分析

Study on the Trend of Age Gap Change of Married Couples and the Reasons in China Since 1990

夫妇年龄差的研究是人口学研究的一个重要领域。但目前的研究由于数据来源多样化，得出的结论不尽一致，关于年龄差的变化方向也没有形成定论。为此，本文利用我国三期妇女地位调查数据，对年龄差变动趋势进行分析。结果发现：我国同龄婚配的特点非常稳定，其比例维持在16％～17％之间。中国夫妇年龄差模式自90年代以来，发生了较大的变化，2010年中国传统的＂男高女低＂的婚配模式有所改变，这种＂男高女低＂婚姻明显下降，而＂女高男低＂婚姻明显升高，扣除同龄婚后二者平分秋色。其原因可能与我国出生性别比持续偏高和婚姻观念的转变等因素有关。

The existing studies of the age gap of the married couples are based on the data from diversified sources and cannot concludeconsistent results including the direction of the age gap changes. This paper, based on the data from 3 phases of women status survey, analyzes the trends of age gap of the married couples. It is found that the marriages of same age keep stable for 16%-17% of all the marriages. Chinese couples＇ age difference pattern had changed greatly since 1990 and the percentage of the traditional marriage patterns of “elder male to younger female” declinedremarkably, while the percentage of marriage with “elder female to younger male” increased dramatically to the same proportion of the marriage with “elder male to younger female”. The reasons for such change may be related to the continued high sex ratio at birth and the change of marriage values in China.