Education Attainment and Unemployment. Educational attainment is another important factor influencing marriage decision. Education can influence both an individual’s attitude towards marriage and their personal income. College education and personal income decreases a women’s likelihood of getting married (Nemoto, 2008; Xxxxx, 2003; Xxxxxxxx et al, 2004; Xxxxxx, 2013; Xxxxx et al, 2005). Unemployment increases a male’s probability of getting married (Xxxxxx, 2005; Xxxxxx &Smith, 1990; Xxxxx, 1989; Xxxxxxxx & Xxxxxxxxx, 2011; Xxxxxx, 1984). In the 2008 JGSS, education attainment is measured using the face- to-face survey question, “what is the last school you attended or are attending now?” Different answer choices were given depending on whether the respondents received his or her last school education before or after World War II or not. To remove the inconsistency of this variable, I reorganize the educational attainment using a new system shown in Appendix 4. According to the descriptive statistics shown in Table 1, a gap still exists between males’ and females’ higher level of education in Japan. 30.6% of the males in the sample were college graduates whereas only 14.2% of the females received college education. For graduate degree, this difference between genders is even more obvious: 2.6% of the men in the sample went to graduate school whereas only 0.7% of women in the sample received the same level of education.
