Uncovering what matters
Family life-course aspects and personal wealth in late working age
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7743797 |
|---|---|
| Authors | N Kapelle (0000-0001-5855-1153), Carla Rowold (0000-0003-0292-6096) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 52 |
| Pages | 689-740 |
| Publication date | 2025-04-09 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Demographic Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1435-9871 • E-ISSN: 2363-7064 |
| Publisher | Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.4054/demres.2025.52.22 |
| OpenAlex | W4409250990 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 77 |
BACKGROUND: Capturing the complexity of family life courses as predictors of later-life outcomes like wealth is challenging. Previous research has either (a) assessed a few selective but potentially irrelevant summary indicators, or (b) examined entire life-course clusters without identifying specific important aspects within and between them. OBJECTIVE: Our aim is to investigate which family life-course variables that capture the order, duration, and timing of states and transitions are key personal wealth predictors for Western Germans aged 50 to 59, and to analyse the strength and direction of associations between the relevant variables and personal wealth, and whether these differ by gender. METHODS: We used German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) data and combined feature selection, sequence analysis tools, and regression techniques. RESULTS: We identified 23 family life-course variables as relevant predictors, with 2 – the time spent never-married, with and without children – deemed most relevant. Most family life-course variables were negatively associated with personal wealth and characterised by single parenthood, marital separation, or early marital transitions with or without fertility transitions. The prevalence and significance of some of the associations between these variables and personal wealth differed across genders. The results highlight the importance of previously concealed family life-course variables for wealth inequalities in late working age. CONTRIBUTION: We extend previous research on the nexus between family demography and wealth stratification by using a novel, data-driven approach that more effectively explores family life-course complexities by considering the ‘entire’ universe of variables that describe such life courses and identifying those life-course variables that are relevant wealth predictors
Developmental psychology · Life course approach · Sociology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Psychology · Retirement, Disability, and Employment
Shortchanged
The Motherhood Wage Gap for Women in the United States
The Precious and the Precocious
Examining the Relationship Between Financial Issues and Divorce
The life course cube
Feature Selection with the Boruta Package
The German Socio-Economic Panel (Soep)
Marital Dissolution and Personal Wealth
The male marital earnings premium contextualized
The Impact of Work and Family Life Histories on Economic Well-Being at Older Ages
Time cannot heal all wounds
Family Events and the Timing of Intergenerational Transfers
I Do … Want to Save
A Review of the Motherhood Wage Penalty in the United States
Systemic and Reflexive
Wealth and Inequality in the Stability of Romantic Relationships
Her House, His Pension? The Division of Assets Among (Ex-) Couples and the Role of Policy
Intra-couple gaps in retirees’ financial resources
First the Children, then the Employed
The Motherhood Penalty in Cross-National Perspective
Long-Term Trends in the Gender Income Gap within Couples
Does it pay to say ‘I do’? Marriage bonuses and penalties across the EU
Partnership patterns and homeownership
Asset holding and net worth among households with children
Heterogeneity in Family Life Course Patterns and Intra-Cohort Wealth Disparities in Late Working Age
A Characterization of World Union Patterns at the National and Regional Level
Economic potential and entry into marriage and cohabitation
His” and “Hers”
Nonmarital childbearing
Union formation in fragile families
Debt, Cohabitation, and Marriage in Young Adulthood
The complexity of employment and family life courses across 20th century Europe
Cumulative Advantage/Disadvantage and the Life Course
The Role of Intergenerational Transfers and Life Cycle Saving in the Accumulation of Wealth
The Wage Penalty for Motherhood
Money, Power and Spending Decisions in Intimate Relationships
From never partnered to serial cohabitors
Cohabiting unions in France and West Germany
Family Structure, Private Transfers, and the Economic Well-Being of Families with Children
Remarriages
Life-Course-Sensitive Analysis of Group Inequalities
Wealth Inequality in the United States
Wealth and Stratification Processes
Wealth Inequality and Accumulation
What's Mine Is Ours? Income Pooling in American Families
Gender Gap in Repartnering
Childhood Family Structure and the Accumulation of Wealth Across the Life Course
Is the Cohabitation-Marriage Gap in Money Pooling Universal
Marriage, Marital History, and Black - White Wealth Differentials Among Older Women
Early Marriage in the United States
High Hopes but Even Higher Expectations
Everything's There Except Money
Does Marital History Matter? Marital Status and Wealth Outcomes Among Preretirement Adults
Parenthood, Gender, and Personal Wealth
The Rise and Decline of the Male Breadwinner Model
Falling Out of Love and Down the Housing Ladder
The Accumulation of Wealth in Marriage
Wealth and the Marital Divide
Family policies and single parent poverty in 18 OECD countries, 1978-2008
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |