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The Wealth of Parents: Trends over Time in Assortative Mating Based on Parental Wealth

Author

Listed:
  • Sander Wagner

    (CREST/ENSAE, Université' Saclay Paris)

  • Diederik Boertien

    (Center for Demographic Studies, Barcelona)

  • Mette Goertz

    (CEBI, Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen)

Abstract

This paper describes trends in parental wealth homogamy among union cohorts formed between 1987 and 2013 in Denmark. Using high-quality register data on the wealth of parents during the year of partnering, we show that the correlation between partners� levels of parental wealth is considerably lower compared to estimates from earlier research on other countries. Nonetheless, parental wealth homogamy is high at the very top of the parental wealth distribution, and individuals from wealthy families are relatively unlikely to partner with individuals from families with low wealth. Parental wealth correlations among partners are higher when looking only at parental assets rather than net wealth, implying that the former might be a better measure for studying many social stratification processes. Most specifications indicate that homogamy increased in the 2000s relative to the 1990s, but trends can vary depending on methodological choices. The increasing levels of parental wealth homogamy raise concerns that, over time, partnering behavior has become more consequential for wealth inequality between couples.

Suggested Citation

  • Sander Wagner & Diederik Boertien & Mette Goertz, 2020. "The Wealth of Parents: Trends over Time in Assortative Mating Based on Parental Wealth," CEBI working paper series 19-03, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI).
    • Handle: RePEc:kud:kucebi:1903
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    Cited by:

    1. is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Christophe Van Langenhove, 2025. "Wealth Mobility in the United States: Empirical Evidence from the PSID," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 25/1104, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    3. repec:osf:osfxxx:pfv6w_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Jo Blanden & Andrew Eyles & Stephen Machin, 2021. "Trends in Intergenerational Home Ownership and Wealth Transmission," CEPEO Working Paper Series 21-05, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised May 2021.
    5. Häner-Müller, Melanie & Salvi, Michele & Schaltegger, Christoph A., 2024. "Marry into new or old money? The distributional impact of marital decisions from an intergenerational perspective," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 672-687.
    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. Ariel J. Binder & Caroline Walker & Jonathan Eggleston & Marta Murray-Close, 2022. "Race and Mobility in U.S. Marriage Markets: Quantifying the Role of Segregation," Working Papers 22-59, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    8. Andreas Fagereng & Luigi Guiso & Luigi Pistaferri, 2022. "Assortative Mating and Wealth Inequality," NBER Working Papers 29903, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Gangl, Markus, 2024. "Economic inequality and the cross-cutting of social circles: Evidence for a Great Gatsby curve in European marriage and partnership markets," OSF Preprints pfv6w, Center for Open Science.
    10. Ricky Kanabar, 2024. "Assortative mating and wealth inequality in Great Britain: evidence from the baby boomer and Gen X cohorts," CEPEO Working Paper Series 24-07, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Nov 2024.
    11. DE POLI Silvia & ONRUBIA Jorge & PICOS Fidel, 2024. "Assortative mating in Spain: who marries whom, and how does it influence income and wealth inequality?," JRC Working Papers on Taxation & Structural Reforms 2024-12, Joint Research Centre.
    12. Ria Wilken, 2025. "Marrying a Billionaire: Studying US American billionaires’ family biographies using the Forbes World’s Billionaires List, 2010–2022," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 707-735, June.
    13. Frank Cowell & Dirk Van de gaer, 2025. "Condorcet Was Wrong, Pareto Was Right: Families, Inheritance and Inequality," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 27(2), April.
    14. Arabela ICHIM & Mihaela NECULITA & Carmen GHELASE & Daniela Ancuta SARPE, 2023. "The Effect of Assortative Mating on Wealth Inequality, why do the Rich Choose the Rich?," Economics and Applied Informatics, "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 2, pages 134-137.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J60 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - General

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