Marriage Squeeze

The term sex ratio is calculated by dividing the number of males by the number of females and multiplying by 100. A ratio of 100 indicates equal numbers; a low ratio indicates an excess of females and a high number an excess of males. Researchers have operationalized a marriage squeeze in a variety of ways, taking into account age, race, labor force status, marital status, rates of homosexuality, and the census undercount (Veevers 1988). Sophisticated measures often yield results correlating with simple sex ratio measures, which in most instances serve as an adequate basis for research (Fossett and Kiecolt 1991).