Van Winkle Zachary, Monden Christiaan
Sciences Po, Observatoire Sociologique du Changement (OSC), CNRS, 27 Rue Saint-Guillaume, Paris Cedex 07, 75337 Paris, France.
Department of Sociology and Nuffield College, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Eur J Popul. 2022 Mar 31;38(3):401-428. doi: 10.1007/s10680-022-09611-w. eCollection 2022 Aug.
As baby boomers enter retirement, an increasing portion of the population in Europe will rely on wealth as a source of financial security. We address two research questions: what is the association between family size, i.e. the number of children, and wealth for adults who are preparing for or have entered retirement and does the generosity of family transfers moderate that association? Data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) are used to estimate the relationship between family size and the total household net worth of men and women between ages 50-65, born 1939-1967 from 14 European countries. We use logistic and linear regression modelling to investigate the probability of zero or negative wealth and net worth percentile rank. We find that adults with four or more children are more likely to be in debt and have less wealth than childless adults. In contrast, adults with two and three children have more wealth. We provide evidence that the generosity of family transfers ameliorates the negative association between larger family sizes and wealth, but may exacerbate wealth inequality by benefiting two and three child families most.
随着婴儿潮一代步入退休年龄，欧洲人口中越来越大的比例将依赖财富作为经济保障的来源。我们探讨两个研究问题：对于正准备退休或已退休的成年人而言，家庭规模（即子女数量）与财富之间存在怎样的关联，以及家庭转移支付的慷慨程度是否会缓和这种关联？来自欧洲健康、老龄化与退休调查（SHARE）的数据用于估计家庭规模与1939年至1967年出生、年龄在50至65岁之间、来自14个欧洲国家的男性和女性家庭总净值之间的关系。我们使用逻辑回归和线性回归模型来研究零财富或负财富的概率以及净值百分位排名。我们发现，有四个或更多子女的成年人比无子女的成年人更有可能负债且财富更少。相比之下，有两个和三个子女的成年人拥有更多财富。我们提供的证据表明，家庭转移支付的慷慨程度缓和了较大家庭规模与财富之间的负相关关系，但可能会因最有利于有两个和三个子女的家庭而加剧财富不平等。
