Lottery Windfalls Reveal Why Money Affects Men and Women's Marriages Differently
A Swedish study tracking lottery winners shows wealth reshapes marriage decisions in sharply gendered ways: men become more likely to marry and have children, while women primarily divorce more often when suddenly rich. The findings suggest divorce law design and unequal property division may be driving how couples value marriage—with implications for policymakers designing family law and employers understanding workforce stability.
Originaltitel: Fortunate Families?
<h3>Abstract</h3> We estimate the effects of large, positive wealth shocks on marriage and fertility among Swedish lottery players. For male winners, wealth increases marriage formation and fertility and likely reduces divorce risk. For female winners, the only clear effect is a higher short-run (but not long-run) divorce risk. The gendered treatment effects are often similar to income gradients. Our findings align with models in which wives derive greater marginal utility from consumption when single than when married, whereas the opposite holds for husbands—but only if marital property is divided unequally upon divorce. We provide descriptive evidence consistent with such unequal division.