My Wealth, (Y)Our Life Satisfaction? Sole and Joint Wealth Ownership and Life Satisfaction in Marriage

This study examines the money-subjective well-being nexus by studying the link between changes in jointly and solely (i.e. respondents’ own and their partner’s own) held gross wealth and changes in married individuals’ subjective well-being. Joint assets reflect norms of sharing responsibilities and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of population 2022-10, Vol.38 (4), p.811-834
Main Authors: Kapelle, Nicole, Nutz, Theresa, Tisch, Daria, Schechtl, Manuel, Lersch, Philipp M., Struffolino, Emanuela
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Assets
Autonomy
Couples
Demography
Economic independence
Economics
Female roles
Gender aspects
Gender differences
Households
Human Geography
Life satisfaction
Marriage
Men
Methodology of the Social Sciences
Money
Norms
Ownership
Personal relationships
Population Economics
Psychological factors
Public Finance
Sex differences
Social Sciences
Socioeconomic factors
Sociology
Spouses
Statistical analysis
Wealth
Well being
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Summary:This study examines the money-subjective well-being nexus by studying the link between changes in jointly and solely (i.e. respondents’ own and their partner’s own) held gross wealth and changes in married individuals’ subjective well-being. Joint assets reflect norms of sharing responsibilities and resources. Solely held assets, in contrast, offer individual economic independence. Using wealth data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP; 2002, 2007, 2012, 2017), we estimate individual fixed effects regressions. Although coefficients for all three wealth measures are positive, our results highlight that only increases in jointly held wealth are associated with statistically significant increases in spouses’ life satisfaction in Germany. Despite expectations about a stronger relevance of joint wealth for men compared to women in line with men’s role as a financial provider for the family, we do not find substantial gender differences in the positive association between increases in joint wealth and life satisfaction. In light of the individualisation of marriages, our results highlight that the personal benefits associated with marital sharing of wealth seem to trump those of economic independence and financial autonomy.
ISSN:0168-6577
1572-9885
DOI:10.1007/s10680-022-09630-7