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What explains the gender gap in wealth? Evidence from administrative data

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  • Jaanika Merikull

  • Merike Kukk

  • Tairi Room

Abstract

This paper studies the gender gap in net wealth. We use administrative data on wealth that are linked to the Estonian Household Finance and Consumption Survey, which provides individual-level wealth data for all household types. We find that the unconditional gender gap in mean wealth is 45% and that it is caused by large wealth disparities in the upper end of the wealth distribution. The structure of assets owned by men is more diversified than that for women. Men own more business assets and vehicles, while women own more deposits. The gender gaps in these asset components cannot be explained by observable characteristics. For partner-headed households the raw gender gaps across deciles are mostly in favour of men, and more strongly so for married couples, indicating that resources are not entirely pooled within households. For single-member households the raw gaps across quantiles are partially in favour of women. Accounting for observable characteristics renders the unexplained parts of the gaps mostly insignificant for all household types

Suggested Citation

  • Jaanika Merikull & Merike Kukk & Tairi Room, 2019. "What explains the gender gap in wealth? Evidence from administrative data," Bank of Estonia Working Papers wp2019-04, Bank of Estonia, revised 16 Oct 2019.
    • Handle: RePEc:eea:boewps:wp2019-04
    DOI: 10.23656/25045520/042019/0166
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    Cited by:

    1. Isaac Koomson & Renato A. Villano & David Hadley, 2023. "The role of financial literacy in households’ asset accumulation process: evidence from Ghana," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 591-614, June.
    2. Javier Olivera & Yadiraah Iparraguirre, 2022. "The Gender Gap in Pension Savings: Evidence from Peru's Individual Capitalization System," LISER Working Paper Series 2022-06, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    3. Sologon, Denisa M. & Doorley, Karina & O'Donoghue, Cathal & Peluso, Eugenio, 2024. "The Gendered Nature of the Cost-of-Living Crisis in Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 16820, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Bartels, Charlotte & Sierminska, Eva & Schröder, Carsten, 2025. "Wealth creators or inheritors? Unpacking the gender wealth gap from bottom to top and young to old," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    5. Loïa Lamarque & Marion Leturcq, 2025. "United We Give, Divided We Keep: Intra-Couple Wealth Inequality and Inter vivos Gift Transfers," Working Papers 306, French Institute for Demographic Studies.
    6. Nicolas Frémeaux & Marion Leturcq, 2022. "Wealth Accumulation and the Gender Wealth Gap Across Couples’ Legal Statuses and Matrimonial Property Regimes in France," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(4), pages 643-679, October.
    7. Javier Olivera & Yadiraah Iparraguirre, 2022. "Gender gap in pension savings: Evidence from Peru’s individual capitalization system∗," Documentos de Trabajo / Working Papers 2022-513, Departamento de Economía - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.
    8. Belloc, Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2025. "Consumption responses to inheritances: The role of durable goods," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    9. Merike Kukk & Jaanika Meriküll & Tairi Rõõm, 2023. "The Gender Wealth Gap in Europe: Application of Machine Learning to Predict Individual‐level Wealth," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 69(2), pages 289-317, June.
    10. Ignacio Belloc & José Alberto Molina & Jorge Velilla, 2025. "Unexpected Inheritances and Household Labor Supply: Does the Identity of the Recipient Matter?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 71(1), February.
    11. LoRiggio, Tessa & Morris, Todd, 2024. "The Gender Wealth Gap near Retirement in Canada," IZA Policy Papers 207, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Merike Kukk & W. Fred Raaij, 2022. "Joint and Individual Savings within Families: Evidence from Bank Accounts," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 511-533, September.
    13. Maria Coelho & Aieshwarya Davis & Alexander Klemm & Carolina Osorio-Buitron, 2024. "Gendered taxes: the interaction of tax policy with gender equality," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 31(5), pages 1413-1460, October.
    14. Philipp M. Lersch & Emanuela Struffolino & Agnese Vitali, 2022. "Wealth in Couples: Introduction to the Special Issue," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(4), pages 623-641, October.
    15. Javier Olivera & Yadiraah Iparraguirre, 2022. "The Gender Gap in Pension Savings," Working Papers 624, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    16. Frank Kyei-Arthur, 2024. "Prevalence and predictors of internet use among Ghanaian older adults: evidence from the Ghana 2021 Population and Housing Census," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.
    17. Philip Caju & Guillaume Périlleux & François Rycx & Ilan Tojerow, 2023. "A bigger house at the cost of an empty stomach? The effect of households’ indebtedness on their consumption: micro-evidence using Belgian HFCS data," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 291-333, March.
    18. Nicolas Herault & Stephen P. Jenkins, "undated". "The t-statistic approach to inference for inequality indices: the issue of grouping variability," Working Papers ecineq-, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    19. Papuna Gogoladze, 2019. "Gender Income Gap Over Life-Cycle: Cross-Country Analysis," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 117, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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