Fascinating Research

'Power Couples' Meet in Cities, Study Finds LiveScience Staff

LiveScience.com
Tue Jun 26, 11:52 AM ET

More than half of all "power couples," in which both spouses are college graduates, live in large metropolitan areas. Researchers have long assumed the couples migrate to the cities.

Instead, single college graduates tend to move to cities, where they meet and marry.

That's the conclusion of a study released today by the Journal of Labor Economics.

In 1970, 39 percent of power couples lived in metropolitan areas with at least two million residents. By 1990 the figure grew to 50 percent.

"We find that power couples are not more likely to migrate to the largest metropolitan areas and are no less likely than other couples to migrate from such areas once they are there," write the researchers.

The study, based on 4,800 families, was done by Janice Compton at the University of Manitoba and Robert A. Pollak of Washington University and National Bureau of Economic Research.

The researches also found that couples in which only the man has a college degree are far more likely to move to a metropolitan area than couples in which only the woman has a college degree.

Whoa Whoa Whoa!! You mean to tell me that single college graduates move to big cities?!?!? And they tend to seek out other single college graduates to marry? Blasphemy! People who are interested in finance, corporate law and politics aren't tempted to return to backwoods Kentucky? Next you're going to tell me that women are more likely to relocate for their husband's career than their male counterparts.. oh wait... dang!

I, for one, am glad that our precious tax dollars and grants are being used to study phenomena that is both controversial and compelling.  Thank you LiveScience for being brave enough to document this truly newsworthy discovery.