Wills, public policy, and financial well-being among surviving spouses

Nicholas, Lauren Hersch; Baum, Micah Y.

doi:10.1016/j.jeoa.2019.100211

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Previous research on widowhood and economic wellbeing, and specifically wealth, has tended to focus on the United States. In a rare exception, Nicholas and Baum (2019) pooled data from the United States and Europe to demonstrate that the use of wills and testimonies is associated with greater retained wealth among surviving spouses. In sum, the current study goes substantially beyond the current state of the art to assess country differences in total wealth and its components across the process of widowhood.…”

Section: Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in Wealth over the Process of Widowhood across European Countries

Kapelle,

Van Winkle

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives: Widowhood has been shown to decrease surviving spouses’ economic wellbeing. However, previous research has focused mostly on income-related outcomes, and has been less attentive to the importance of wealth, the processual nature of spousal death, and cross-national variation. In this study, we assessed how total, housing, and non-housing wealth changes over the process of widowhood across eleven European countries. Methods: Individual fixed-effects regressions and longitudinal data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) were used to estimate how household net total wealth, housing wealth, and non-housing wealth changed three years prior and six or more years after spousal death relative to four or more years prior to widowhood in eleven European countries.Results: In all countries, household net wealth stayed relatively constant across the widowhood process, except for in Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland where wealth declines were observed especially in the years following death. However, we found declines in housing wealth over the widowhood process, including prior to spousal death, across most countries in our sample, particularly in Austria, France, Denmark, the Czech Republic, and Poland. Declines in housing wealth were generally not reflected by changes in non-housing wealth but coincided with leaving homeownership and downsizing. Discussion: Widowhood is associated with lower wealth, especially housing wealth, even in the years before spousal loss. Future research should focus on adjudicating the mechanisms behind country differences and exploring the implications of lost wealth following widowhood for surviving spouses’ wellbeing and intergenerational transfers.

show abstract

Section: Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in Wealth over the Process of Widowhood across European Countries

Kapelle,

Van Winkle

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Gender-Responsive Regional Fiscal Policies: The Labour Market

Culotta

2023

Social Indicators Research Series

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The labour market allows individuals to earn a living throughout their lifetime. When it comes to gendered issues, the labour market is also an environment where different outcomes between female and male workers emerge. Differences between women and men naturally exist because of the biological characteristics related to sex differences. The possibilities of maternity and longevity are the most notable examples. Compared with men, women also have less physical power. In fact, the origin of the gender gap in the labour market goes back to the ‘male breadwinner’ model, typical of an industrial economy, in which women’s role was traditionally limited to homemaking activities (Fortin, 2005; Lewis et al., 2008). Physical skills are relevant to the labour supply for an industrial economy.

show abstract

Older Adults’ Relationship Trajectories and Estate Planning

Choi

Carr

2022

J Fam Econ Iss

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Wills, public policy, and financial well-being among surviving spouses

Cited by 4 publications

References 26 publications

Changes in Wealth over the Process of Widowhood across European Countries

Changes in Wealth over the Process of Widowhood across European Countries

Gender-Responsive Regional Fiscal Policies: The Labour Market

Older Adults’ Relationship Trajectories and Estate Planning

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About