Wealth Matters: People with Stuff Are More Likely to Marry

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People who have more personal wealth — in the form of a car, say, or a small nest egg — are more likely to get married than those who have less, according to a new analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. It's further evidence, as if it were needed, that money and marriage are becoming increasingly intertwined in ways that are not yet fully understood.

One of the most striking sociological trends to emerge in recent decades is the widening wealth gap between those who are married and those who aren't. The marrying kind tend to be more educated, wealthier and whiter — so they often start with more advantages. But because marriage often brings with it extra benefits to health, finances and family, the economically disadvantaged unmarried are set back doubly, and the gap between the well-off and the struggling grows ever wider.

Marriage rates have been falling across the board since the 1980s, but particularly so among certain groups. "What is perhaps most striking is the increasing stratification in marriage by race and education," said Daniel Schneider, a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton University and the author of the study, in a statement. "From 1980 to 2000, the percentage of white women who had been married by ages 25 to 29 had dropped by 13 percentage points to 68%, but the drop was far larger for blacks, dropping 25 points, to just 38%."

Indeed, the historically low rates of marriage among African Americans — U.S. Census data suggests that 40% of black women will not be married by the age of 40 — has led to a lot of debate in recent weeks, stirred partly by the publication of the not-at-all-controversially titled book Is Marriage for White People?

MORE: Q&A: Is Marriage for White People?

Researchers have tried to narrow down exactly what it is that makes people more likely to marry, and often they settle on education and income as the critical factors. Since blacks and the less educated traditionally face disadvantages in the job market, they may tend delay marriage longer, increasing gaps in marriage rates. But Schneider's study, published in the American Journal of Sociology, suggests that income explains only part of the gap. Personal assets may account for more of the willingness to wed, Schneider says, especially among men.

This makes intuitive sense. Marriage is not something to be entered into lightly — as the preachers like to say. And it requires quite a lot of optimism and hope — as the celebrants at second weddings like to say. It's much easier to imagine other people depending on you in the future, if you have even a little something to fall back on.

Schneider hypothesized that if accumulated riches matter in people's decisions to marry, then the fact that blacks often start off with less than whites would explain some of the disparity in marriage rates. To test this theory, he looked at whether personal wealth, such as having a car, money in a savings account or financial assets like stocks and bonds, was associated with the likelihood of entering into first marriage in any given year.

MORE: The Fathering Gap: Pitfalls of Modern Fatherhood

After controlling for income, employment and family background, Schneider found that, indeed, owning a car or having financial assets increased the probability that a man would get married in a given year. The effect was also true of women, but less so. Based on his analysis, Schneider concluded that personal wealth further accounted for a significant part of the racial gap in marriage rates; he estimates that about 30% of the gap could be attributed to accumulated wealth, while 20% could be explained by income, employment and public benefits. "What people own, not just what they earn or know, shapes entrance into marriage and so may perpetuate disadvantage across generations," writes Schneider.

What to do? Programs that help poorer people to accrue some assets, no matter how small should be encouraged, he believes. "Even small amounts of wealth may help disadvantaged men and women meet the economic standard of marriage," he said.

MORE: Whites and Blacks Are Intermarrying More Often

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Our children need time not stuff

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13 September 2011 Last updated at 21:25 GMT Do British parents spend too much on material goods for their children?

Why are British children so unhappy? Four years after Unicef sparked national soul-searching with analysis showing child well-being in the UK at the bottom of a league of developed nations, the organisation has attempted to explain our problem.

The answer, it seems, is that we put too little store on family time and too much on material goods. Unicef paints a picture of a country that has got its priorities wrong - trading quality time with our children for "cupboards full of expensive toys that aren't used".

"Parents in the UK want to be good parents, but aren't sure how," the research suggests. "They feel they don't have the time, and sometimes the knowledge, and often try to compensate for this by buying their children gadgets and clothes."

The research compares Britain with Sweden and Spain. While the UK languishes in 21st, and last, place in the child well-being table, they come second and fifth respectively.

One reason they perform so much better, according to Unicef, is that in both countries "family time is protected" and children "all have greater access to activities".

"In Sweden their social policy allows family time and their culture massively reinforces it. In Spain fathers do work long hours, but the extended family is still very important and women stay at home to look after their children."

The report argues that the pressure of the working environment and rampant materialism combine to damage the well-being of our children. They want our attention but we give them our money.

"All children interviewed said that material goods did not make them happy, but materialism in the UK seems to be just as much of a problem for parents as children," the research concludes. "Parents in the UK often feel compelled to purchase consumer goods which are often neither wanted or treasured."

It is a profoundly depressing analysis of British life, not least because it rings true.

Time poor

The importance of parents devoting energy and love to the rearing of their children is accepted by political leaders from across the spectrum, but maximising income and encouraging consumption are regarded as vital components for economic growth.

In the UK, the demands of the latter often undermine the former.

Parents work all hours to increase family income but then are too exhausted or too busy to give their children the attention they need and deserve.

Of course the Swedes and the Spanish are materialistic too, but the researchers found parents in these countries more able to defy the consumer society.

"Parents in the UK… don't know how to challenge the materialist culture they see around them. This is in stark contrast to the families the researchers spent time with in Sweden and Spain."

Source: Unicef *Material well-being is calculated using three criteria: household incomes, access to basic educational resources, and housing living space.

One reason for Britain's poor performance, it is suggested, is that material inequality is much higher here than in other rich countries. The chart above - from another Unicef report card published last November - shows the UK with a far wider gap in material well-being than the OECD average.

The consequence is that poorer families feel they have to struggle even harder to get their children the stuff that is equated to status: the latest computer games, branded trainers and corporate logos.

"Parents and children feel massive external pressure from a materialistic culture, which they know won't bring happiness, but are conforming to none-the-less," the research finds. "Lack of family time and materialism is particularly felt among poorer families in the UK compared to the other countries."

Another problem is that British teenagers do not have enough to do - particularly within the educational arena.

"In the UK, children's time in active creative pursuits diminishes in secondary schools compared to children in Spain and Sweden. This is particularly true among older, deprived children in the UK."

Unicef's remedy is for Britain to look at its priorities. They want politicians to consider specific measures to support families:

a living wage so that families earn enough to spend more time with each otherprotection of children's facilities so they have the opportunity to be active

Before the last election, David Cameron gave a speech in which he said that "what matters most to a child's life chances is not the wealth of their upbringing but the warmth of their parenting."

Today's Unicef research would seem to concur. If Britain is serious about doing the best for its children, it needs to give them more time not more stuff.

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Our children need time not stuff

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Verbringen 13. September 2011 Stand 21:25 GMT britische Eltern für ihre Kinder zu sehr auf materiellen Gütern? Warum britische Kinder so unglücklich sind? Vier Jahre nach Unicef national Gewissensprüfung Analyse anzeigen Wohlergehen im Vereinigten Königreich am unteren Rand einer Liga der Industrieländer, löste hat die Organisation versucht, unser Problem zu erklären.

Die Antwort, so scheint es, ist, dass wir zu wenig Speicher auf Zeit mit der Familie und zu sehr auf materielle Güter. UNICEF zeichnet ein Bild eines Landes, das hat seine Prioritäten falsch - Handel Qualitätszeit mit unseren Kindern für "schränken voller teuren Spielzeug, die nicht verwendet".

"Eltern im Vereinigten Königreich wollen gute Eltern zu sein, aber nicht sicher sind, wie," die Forschung schlägt vor. "sie fühlen sich sie nicht haben die Zeit, und manchmal die Kenntnisse, und oft versuchen, um dies zu umgehen, durch den Kauf ihre Kinder, Gadgets und Kleidung."

Die Forschung vergleicht Großbritannien, Schweden und Spanien. Während die UK in 21 und letzten, Platz in der untergeordneten Wohlbefinden Tabelle schmachtet, kommen sie zweiten und fünften bzw..

Ein Grund, warum sie so viel besser führen Sie laut Unicef, ist, dass in Ländern "Zeit mit der Familie wird geschützt" und die Kinder "alle besseren Zugang zu Aktivitäten".

"In Schweden kann ihre Sozialpolitik Zeit mit der Familie und ihre Kultur massiv verstärkt es. In Spanien Väter arbeiten viele Stunden, aber die Familie ist immer noch sehr wichtig und Frauen zu Hause bleiben, um ihre Kinder zu kümmern."

Der Bericht argumentiert, dass der Druck der Arbeitsumwelt und der zügellosen Materialismus kombinieren das Wohlergehen unserer Kinder zu beschädigen. Sie wollen unsere Aufmerksamkeit, aber wir Ihnen unser Geld.

"Alle Kinder interviewt sagte, dass materielle Güter nicht sie glücklich machen, aber Materialismus im Vereinigten Königreich scheint nur so viel ein Problem für Eltern als Kinder," schließt die Forschung. "Eltern im Vereinigten Königreich oft gezwungen fühlen, Konsumgüter zu beziehen, die oft weder gewollt oder geschätzt werden."

Es ist eine zutiefst deprimierend Analyse des britischen Lebens, nicht zuletzt, weil es true, andernfalls false klingelt.

Schlechte Zeit

Die Bedeutung der Eltern widmen Energie und Liebe für die Aufzucht ihrer Kinder ist über das gesamte Spektrum von Politikern aus akzeptiert, aber Einkommen zu maximieren und die Förderung der Verbrauch gelten als wichtige Komponenten für das Wirtschaftswachstum.

Im Vereinigten Königreich untergraben die Anforderungen der letztere oft der ehemaligen.

Eltern arbeiten alle Stunden Familieneinkommen erhöhen aber dann sind zu erschöpft, oder zu beschäftigt, um ihre Kinder die Aufmerksamkeit zu geben, die Sie benötigen und verdienen.

Natürlich die Schweden und Spanien sind materialistischen auch, aber die Forscher gefunden Eltern in diesen Ländern mehr in der Lage, die Konsumgesellschaft zu trotzen.

"Eltern in der britischen nicht wissen, wie gegen die materialistische Kultur, die sie um sie herum sehen. Dies steht in krassem Gegensatz zu den Familien, die in Schweden und Spanien die Forscher mit Zeit."

Quelle: Unicef * materiellen Wohlstand wird anhand von drei Kriterien berechnet: Haushaltseinkommen, Zugang zu grundlegenden Bildungsressourcen und Gehäuse-Lebensraum.

Ein Grund für schlechte Leistung Großbritanniens vorgeschlagen wird, ist, dass wesentliche Ungleichheit viel höher ist als in anderen reichen Länder hier. Das Diagramm oben, zeigt von einem anderen Unicef-Bericht-Karte veröffentlicht im November letzten Jahres - Großbritannien mit eine weit größere Lücke im materiellen Wohlstand unter dem OECD-Durchschnitt.

Die Folge ist, dass die ärmere Familien fühlen sich sie, ihre Kinder das Zeug, die Status gleichgesetzt wird noch härter zu kämpfen haben: die neuesten Computerspiele, Ausbilder und Firmenlogos.

"Eltern und Kinder fühlen sich massiven externen Druck eine materialistische Kultur, die sie wissen, wird nicht Glück bringen, aber sind none-the-Less den," die Forschung findet. "Mangel an Zeit mit der Familie und Materialismus ist besonders unter den ärmeren Familien im Vereinigten Königreich im Vergleich zu den anderen Ländern spüren."

Ein weiteres Problem ist, dass britische Jugendliche nicht genug zu tun - vor allem im pädagogischen Bereich.

"Im Vereinigten Königreich verringert Kinder Zeit in aktive kreative Beschäftigungen in weiterführenden Schulen im Vergleich zu Kindern in Spanien und Schweden. Dies gilt insbesondere bei älteren, benachteiligten Kindern im Vereinigten Königreich."

UNICEF Lösung ist für Großbritannien zu ihren Prioritäten betrachten. Sie wollen Politiker zu spezifische Maßnahmen zur Unterstützung der Familien zu berücksichtigen:

ein Leben zu führen, so dass Familien verdienen genug zu verbringen mehr Zeit mit jeder Otherprotection von Einrichtungen für Kinder, so sie die Möglichkeit haben, aktiv zu sein

Vor der letzten Wahl hat David Cameron eine Rede gehalten, in der er sagte, dass "welche Angelegenheiten am meisten zu Chancen im Leben eines Kindes nicht den Reichtum ihrer Erziehung, aber die Wärme der ihre Erziehung."

Heute Unicef Forschung scheint zu stimmen. Wenn Großbritannien Ernst tut das beste für ihre Kinder, dann müssen sie mehr geben Zeit nicht mehr Material.

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