I asked a divorce litigator what she thought of “The Marriages of Power Couples Reinforce Income Inequality” (a economics professor’s Christmas Eve New York Times article on Americans’ mating decisions):
As it becomes harder for many people to “marry up” as a path for income mobility for themselves or their children, families that are not well connected may feel disengaged, and the significant, family-based advantages for some children may discourage others from even trying.
A study of Denmark by Gustaf Bruze, a researcher at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, showed that about half of the expected financial gain of attending college derived not from better job prospects but from the chance to meet and marry a higher-earning spouse.
The response from the world where street smarts are more important than degrees?
“If you can’t get into a college that graduates investment bankers, you can make just as good money by banging an investment banker, preferably one who is already married.”
(See “Child Support Litigation without a Marriage” for some of the practicalities.)