Wealth, Savings and Children Among Swiss, German and Australian Families

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Ressource 1Download: Ravazzini-Kuhn2018_Chapter_WealthSavingsAndChildren.pdf (384.83 [Ko])
State: Public
Version: Final published version
Serval ID
serval:BIB_77222A7D6B7F
Type
A part of a book
Publication sub-type
Chapter: chapter ou part
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Wealth, Savings and Children Among Swiss, German and Australian Families
Title of the book
Social Dynamics in Swiss Society
Author(s)
Ravazzini Laura, Kuhn Ursina
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
ISBN
9783319895567
9783319895574
ISSN
2211-7776
2211-7784
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2018
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Editor
Tillmann Robin, Voorpostel Marieke, Farago Peter
Volume
Life Course Research and Social Policies
Pages
161-174
Language
english
Abstract
Although sociologists pay increasing attention to wealth, we know very little about the relationship between children and wealth accumulation. Using the information on wealth from panel surveys (the Swiss Household Panel, the Household of Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia and the German Socio-Economic Panel), we study families’ wealth accumulation in different social and political settings. This contribution tests how children affect the propensity to save and net worth. It also addresses anticipation effects when individuals plan to have a child. The results from fixed effects models show that dependent children reduce the probability to save, whereas planning for a child increases the probability to save. To test whether lower or higher expenditure is responsible for lower saving probability, we estimate models with earned income and labour supply as mediator variables. Small children are found to reduce saving mostly through income losses, and older children reduce saving through higher expenditures. In the long run, children have moderate negative consequences on wealth accumulation in all countries (6714 CHF per grown-up child in Switzerland, 15,462 AU$ in Australia, and 619 EUR in Germany).
Keywords
Wealth accumulation, Savings, Child-rearing, Life-course analysis
Open Access
Yes
Create date
14/09/2018 8:35
Last modification date
20/08/2019 14:34
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