ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter we argued that homogamy is a fundamental building block of social structure. People tend to marry or partner people similar to themselves in terms of social background but also social values or attitudes (and probably more personal, less easily measurable characteristics). We argued that this is a form of social selection and can make society less open. Marriage perhaps has a conservative effect; it is as if the aggregate effects of individual marriage decisions serve to tighten up the transmission of social attitudes over time. However, marriage itself is in decline, with cohabitation substituting for marriage and remarriage following divorce, so we also considered whether the effect of this on the conservation of social values is in decline too. We did not fi nd that this was the case to any signifi cant extent.
