Married v. Single; Net Worth Gap; FIRE

[vand]

I think a lot of the explanations offered here would be more compelling if the wealth gap were less dramatic. But it’s HUGE.

The Federal Reserve report on this phenomena noted “This pattern suggests that the gaps in median wealth cannot solely be attributed to the presence of an additional adult in the household. Otherwise, married households would have no more than twice the median wealth of unmarried households.”

Others have commented about the nature of marriage itself vs. alternatives. Some say marriage is a long-term commitment to legacy, while cohabitating (couples or roommates) is about reduction of expenses in the short-term—and this essential difference in philosophy leads to much greater wealth.

Whatever the reason, the gap cannot be explained entirely by tax tables and rent sharing. It’s obviously much more than that.

The problem with assuming causative factors to discriptive statistics is that anyone can weave whatever story they want about it.

So true.

What do you think helps explain why married people have such higher new worths than singles? I’d be interested in your opinion on the subject.

Am willing to bet that home ownership rates are the biggest factor

According to statistia
https://www.statista.com/statistics/186735/homeownership-rate-by-family-household-type-in-the-us/

Home ownership is roughly

80% for married couples
55% for single males
45% for single females

We know that for most people their home is their biggest asset - ergo, if you have no home equity you're doing worse in this category than everyone who does, and that's largely married folk.

[YttriumNitrate]

Have any of the cited articles discussed high wage earners distorting the averages?  Am thinking of doctors marrying doctors and lawyers marrying lawyers, just as a matter of who they were meeting while in there 20's and 30's.  My neighbor is in the late stages of residency and it seems her entire social circle are other doctors.

Just doing a cursory review, it looks like most (if not all) of the stats cited are using median rather than mean statistics so the impact of doctors marrying lawyers should be fairly minimal.

[mistymoney]

I think a lot of the explanations offered here would be more compelling if the wealth gap were less dramatic. But it’s HUGE.

The Federal Reserve report on this phenomena noted “This pattern suggests that the gaps in median wealth cannot solely be attributed to the presence of an additional adult in the household. Otherwise, married households would have no more than twice the median wealth of unmarried households.”

Others have commented about the nature of marriage itself vs. alternatives. Some say marriage is a long-term commitment to legacy, while cohabitating (couples or roommates) is about reduction of expenses in the short-term—and this essential difference in philosophy leads to much greater wealth.

Whatever the reason, the gap cannot be explained entirely by tax tables and rent sharing. It’s obviously much more than that.

The problem with assuming causative factors to discriptive statistics is that anyone can weave whatever story they want about it.

So true.

What do you think helps explain why married people have such higher new worths than singles? I’d be interested in your opinion on the subject.

because marriage is promulgated as the acceptable lifestyle and rewarded by society in a multitude of ways large and small.