Women at a disadvantage when building wealth
Women are known to be disadvantaged in the labor market due to the so-called “gender pay gap”: There is a gap of up to 18 percent between the average income of men and women, as previous findings from “Living in Germany” show. Researchers have now investigated the extent to which there are also differences between the sexes when it comes to wealth and asset accumulation.
Over a longer period of time, a clear result emerges: men and women accumulate wealth differently during their lifetime. On average, men receive more wealth in the form of gifts and inheritances during their working lives than women. The latter only inherit larger sums later in life, mainly due to the death of their spouses. In contrast to men, they have fewer opportunities to increase their wealth early on, for example by making long-term investments or becoming entrepreneurs.
Further information
Charlotte Bartels, Eva Sierminska, Carsten Schröder: Wealth Creators or Inheritors?