The ant or the grasshopper? The long-term consequences of Unilateral Divorce Laws on savings of European households

Viola Angelini; Marco Bertoni; L. Stella; C. Weiss

doi:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2019.07.002

The ant or the grasshopper? The long-term consequences of Unilateral Divorce Laws on savings of European households

Viola Angelini, Marco Bertoni^*, L. Stella, C. Weiss

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Unilateral Divorce Laws (UDLs) allow people to obtain divorce without the consent of their spouse. Using the staggered introduction of UDLs across European countries, we show that households exposed to UDLs for a longer period of time accumulate more savings. This effect holds for both financial and total wealth and is stronger at higher quantiles of the wealth distribution. Consistent with a precautionary motive for savings, we also find that exposure to UDLs increases female labour supply, numeracy, trust in others and dispositional optimism. (C) 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	97-113
Number of pages	17
Journal	European Economic Review
Volume	119
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2019.07.002
Publication status	Published - Oct-2019

Keywords

Divorce risk
Household savings
Europe
FINANCIAL LITERACY
RETIREMENT
RATES
SELECTION
MARRIAGE
OPTIMISM
CHILDREN
IMPACT

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title = "The ant or the grasshopper? The long-term consequences of Unilateral Divorce Laws on savings of European households",

abstract = "Unilateral Divorce Laws (UDLs) allow people to obtain divorce without the consent of their spouse. Using the staggered introduction of UDLs across European countries, we show that households exposed to UDLs for a longer period of time accumulate more savings. This effect holds for both financial and total wealth and is stronger at higher quantiles of the wealth distribution. Consistent with a precautionary motive for savings, we also find that exposure to UDLs increases female labour supply, numeracy, trust in others and dispositional optimism. (C) 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.",

keywords = "Divorce risk, Household savings, Europe, FINANCIAL LITERACY, RETIREMENT, RATES, SELECTION, MARRIAGE, OPTIMISM, CHILDREN, IMPACT",

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AU - Stella, L.

AU - Weiss, C.

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AB - Unilateral Divorce Laws (UDLs) allow people to obtain divorce without the consent of their spouse. Using the staggered introduction of UDLs across European countries, we show that households exposed to UDLs for a longer period of time accumulate more savings. This effect holds for both financial and total wealth and is stronger at higher quantiles of the wealth distribution. Consistent with a precautionary motive for savings, we also find that exposure to UDLs increases female labour supply, numeracy, trust in others and dispositional optimism. (C) 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.

KW - Divorce risk

KW - Household savings

KW - Europe

KW - FINANCIAL LITERACY

KW - RETIREMENT

KW - RATES

KW - SELECTION

KW - MARRIAGE

KW - OPTIMISM

KW - CHILDREN

KW - IMPACT

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DO - 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2019.07.002

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EP - 113

JO - European Economic Review

JF - European Economic Review

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