scholarly journals Heterogeneity in Family Life Course Patterns and Intra-Cohort Wealth Disparities in Late Working Age

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Kapelle ◽  
Sergi Vidal
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Older Age ◽  
Stable Marriage ◽  
Wealth Accumulation ◽  
Family Patterns ◽  
Family Pattern ◽  
Standard Family ◽  
Personal Wealth ◽  
Wealth Inequalities

AbstractConsidering soaring wealth inequalities in older age, this research addresses the relationship between family life courses and widening wealth differences between individuals as they age. We holistically examine how childbearing and marital histories are associated with personal wealth at ages 50–59 for Western Germans born between 1943 and 1967. We propose that deviations from culturally and institutionally-supported family patterns, or the stratified access to them, associate with differential wealth accumulation over time and can explain wealth inequalities at older ages. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP, v34, waves 2002–2017), we first identified typical family trajectory patterns between ages 16 and 50 with multichannel sequence analysis and cluster analysis. We then modelled personal wealth ranks at ages 50–59 as a function of family patterns. Results showed that deviations from the standard family pattern (i.e. stable marriage with, on average, two children) were mostly associated with lower wealth ranks at older age, controlling for childhood characteristics that partly predict selection into family patterns and baseline wealth. We found higher wealth penalties for greater deviation and lower penalties for moderate deviation from the standard family pattern. Addressing entire family trajectories, our research extended and nuanced our knowledge of the role of earlier family behaviour for later economic wellbeing. By using personal-level rather than household-level wealth data, we were able to identify substantial gender differences in the study associations. Our research also recognised the importance of combining marital and childbearing histories to assess wealth inequalities.

The Accumulation of Wealth in Marriage: Over-Time Change and Within-Couple Inequalities

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 580-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Kapelle ◽  
Philipp M Lersch
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Wealth Accumulation ◽  
Housing Wealth ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Wealth Inequalities ◽  
Fixed Effects Regression ◽  
Over Time

Abstract This study examines the accumulation of personal wealth of husbands and wives and investigates the development of within-couple wealth inequalities over time in marriage. Going beyond previous research that mostly studied the marriage wealth premium using household-level wealth data and that conceptualized marriage as an instantaneous transition with uniform consequences over time, we argue that entry into marriage is a gendered life-course event that dynamically shapes husbands’ and wives’ wealth accumulation. Using high-quality data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017), we apply fixed-effects regression models to describe wealth accumulation within marriage. We find evidence that wealth premiums are lower during early years of marriage, but increase steadily thereafter. The premium is mostly concentrated in housing wealth. Results from supplementary analyses with limited data, however, suggest that the premium may not be causal for men. Regarding within-couple wealth inequalities, we find a pronounced within-couple wealth gap prior to marriage during pre-marital cohabitation. This gap remains stable over time in marriage. In contrast to findings regarding income, our study indicates that the institution of marriage may not amplify within-couple wealth inequalities further.

Are The Rich Getting Richer? Trends in U.S. Wealth Concentration

1976 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley Lebergott
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Forward Model ◽  
Wealth Accumulation ◽  
Wealth Concentration ◽  
Personal Wealth ◽  
The Rich ◽  
American Families

When tested against U.S. evidence back to the nineteenth century a straight-forward model of wealth accumulation contradicts the belief that “the rich are getting richer.” If the wealth owned by the top 1 percent of American families in 1922 had earned only a modest 8 percent yearly until 1953 then they (or their heirs) would have owned 98 percent of personal wealth—instead of an actual share of 28 percent. The erosion of top wealth groups also appears for 1953–1969, and for 1892 and the years following. The reasons for such erosion, inherent in the structure of U.S. families and of U.S. institutions, are discussed.

Looking at Family Life and Looking Back: The Links Between Retrospective Self-discrepancies and Emotional Health in Older Age

2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-180
Author(s):  
Jillian J. Francis ◽  
Jennifer M. Boldero ◽  
Sally-Ann Newson
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Emotional Health ◽  
Older Age ◽  
Looking Back

Hard Times and Harder Minds: Material Hardship and Marital Well-Being Among Low-Income Families in South Korea

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (18) ◽  
pp. 2545-2566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joyce Shim ◽  
RaeHyuck Lee ◽  
Jaeseung Kim
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Married Couples ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Material Hardship ◽  
Spousal Relationship ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
Household Heads

Experiencing material hardship may bring various negative consequences for married couples and family members. However, little is known about this topic in Korea. Using a nationally representative sample from the Korean Welfare Panel Study, we examined how material hardship was associated with marital well-being among low-income families in Korea, separately for husbands (i.e., male household heads) and wives. Overall, we found experiencing any material hardship was associated with lower levels of satisfaction of both family life and spousal relationship, consistently for husbands and wives. We also found depression and self-esteem partially mediated the associations in both groups. Furthermore, among individual items of material hardship, experiencing food hardship was associated with lower levels of satisfaction of family life for both husbands and wives, whereas experiencing problems with credit was associated with lower levels of satisfaction of both family life and spousal relationship for wives but not for husbands.

The Wealth Accumulation of Antebellum European Immigrants to the U.S., 1840–60

1994 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph P. Ferrie
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Wealth Accumulation ◽  
Passenger Ship ◽  
Rapid Accumulation ◽  
Personal Wealth ◽  
European Immigrants ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Real Wealth

This article explores wealth accumulation among European immigrants who arrived in the United States between 1840 and 1850. It uses a new sample of immigrants linked from passenger-ship records to the 1850 and 1860 federal census manuscripts. These immigrants rapidly accumulated real and personal wealth. Their real wealth grew 10 percent with each year≈s residence in the United States. This was not because immigrants arriving in the early 1840s were wealthier at arrival than later arrivals, nor was the rapid accumulation of wealth confined to one nationality or occupation. Rather, it reflects these immigrants≈ abilities to adapt to new circumstances after their arrival.

scholarly journals Decoupling African Traditional Religion and Culture from the Family Life of Africans: Calculated Steps in Disguise

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 202-212
Author(s):  
Ebenezer Boakye
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Family System ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
New Wave ◽  
Family Patterns ◽  
The Family ◽  
African Traditional Religion ◽  
The Masses ◽  
African Families

Even though African Traditional Religion and Cultural family life seem to have been detached from the indigenous Africans, with many reasons accounting for such a detach, the attempts made by the new wave of Christianity is paramount, under the cloak of salvation and better life. The paper focuses on the steps taken by Pentecostal-Charismatics in Africa to decouple African Traditional Religion and Culture from the family life of Africans in a disguised manner. The paper begins with the retrospection of African Traditional Religion as the religion with belief of the forefathers concerning the existence of the Supreme Being, divinities, Spirit beings, Ancestors, and mysterious powers, good and evil and the afterlife. It then walks readers through the encounter between Christianity and ATR and come out that Christianity from its earliest history has maintained a negative attitude toward ATR. The paper again explores that the traditional understanding of the African family system is portrayed in the common believe system and the functions of the family com-ponents. Again, the paper further unravels decoupling measures such as reaching the masses for audience, demonization of African the world of the spirit, demonization of African elders, pastors as-suming the traditional position of elders of African families are the factors that are being taken to ensure the taking away of African traditional religious and family life from Africans. The paper again discusses the adverse effects of these decoupling factors on Africans. The paper concludes that Traditional African family patterns are slowly but progressively being altered as a result of the process of the decoupling strategies.

scholarly journals Family Life Courses, Gender, and Mid-Life Earnings

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marika Jalovaara ◽  
Anette Eva Fasang
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Stable Marriage ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Regression Methods ◽  
Married Mothers ◽  
Life Courses ◽  
And Gender ◽  
And Cluster Analysis ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract There is a long-standing debate on whether extensive Nordic family policies have the intended equalizing effect on family and gender differences in economic outcomes. This article compares how the combination of family events across the life course is associated with annual and accumulated earnings at mid-life for men and women in an egalitarian Nordic welfare state. Based on Finnish register data (N = 12,951), we identify seven typical family life courses from ages 18 to 39 and link them to mid-life earnings using sequence and cluster analysis and regression methods. Earnings are highest for the most normative family life courses that combine stable marriage with two or more children for men and women. Mid-life earnings are lowest for unpartnered mothers and never-partnered childless men. Earnings gaps by family lives are small among women but sizeable among men. Gender disparities in earnings are remarkably high, particularly between men and women with normative family lives. These gaps between married mothers and married fathers remain invisible when looking only at motherhood penalties. Results further highlight a large group of (almost) never-partnered childless men with low earnings who went largely unnoticed in previous research.

scholarly journals Polygyny without wealth: popularity in gift games predicts polygyny in BaYaka Pygmies

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
pp. 150054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikhil Chaudhary ◽  
Gul Deniz Salali ◽  
James Thompson ◽  
Mark Dyble ◽  
Abigail Page ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Human Evolution ◽  
Resource Availability ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Wealth Accumulation ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Marriage Patterns ◽  
Phenotypic Quality ◽  
Wealth Inequalities ◽  
Polygynous Marriage

The occurrence of polygynous marriage in hunter–gatherer societies, which do not accumulate wealth, remains largely unexplored since resource availability is dependent on male hunting capacity and limited by the lack of storage. Hunter–gatherer societies offer the greatest insight in to human evolution since they represent the majority of our species' evolutionary history. In order to elucidate the evolution of hunter–gatherer polygyny, we study marriage patterns of BaYaka Pygmies. We investigate (i) rates of polygyny among BaYaka hunter–gatherers; (ii) whether polygyny confers a fitness benefit to BaYaka men; (iii) in the absence of wealth inequalities, what are the alternative explanations for polygyny among the BaYaka. To understand the latter, we explore differences in phenotypic quality (height and strength), and social capital (popularity in gift games). We find polygynous men have increased reproductive fitness; and that social capital and popularity but not phenotypic quality might have been important mechanisms by which some male hunter–gatherers sustained polygynous marriages before the onset of agriculture and wealth accumulation.

Changing Marital and Family Patterns: A Test of the Post-Modern Perspective

1998 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 381-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey M. Jacques
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Family Structure ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Census Data ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Family Patterns ◽  
Universal Family ◽  
Modern Perspective

Four central constructs of the post-modern perspective are extended and tested using secondary analysis of Census data and the NORC General Social Survey: 1972–94 data sets. The modified postmodern themes of: (1) the decline of a single universal family organizational standard, and (2) growing cultural diversity, which is seen as legitimate—diversity which is increasingly based upon affectivity and achievement emanating from an emphases on relationship cooperation, friendship, individual choice and expressive communications, were supported by examining changes in American family structure, attitudes toward such structural changes, and changing attitudes toward marital and family patterns over the last quarter century. However, little support was found for the greater use of, and reliance on, (3) the mass media. Mixed results were found on the fourth construct, greater variance in, and/or loss of, personal happiness or personal or family life satisfaction. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed. Given the growing importance and acceptance of organizational and cultural diversity, future studies of family structure and processes may profit from more narrowly defined localized and pragmatic parameters of finely delimited social aggregates. Such studies are more consistent with the realities of contemporary American social organization and cultural values of family life, the behaviors and attitudes of Americans, and the modified post-modern perspective.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document