Wealth Inequality at Death: Gender and Location

• In Event: 355 - Section on Economic Sociology Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 07. Inequality: Structure and Mechanisms

Abstract

Data regarding actual wealth, assets, and net worth of individuals are rarely available, however, probate records in Iowa offer a, perhaps, unique opportunity to measure and examine actual wealth and factors that influence it. This research examines the influence of gender and locational context on wealth inequality at death. The analysis utilizes individual estate value information from more than 50,000 probate records of decedents in Iowa. The estate values are calculated from estate fees assessed in Iowa that are proportional to the size of the estate and are part of the public record. The findings show that men’s average estate size is larger than that for women, both statewide and in a majority of the counties. These findings contrast with conventional wisdom which suggests that women, because of longer life expectancy and outliving their husbands, have a majority of the wealth when they die. The largest differences in average wealth, however, are not by gender but by county location. Findings show that the average estate values across the counties have a positive relationship with land values, income levels, and educational levels, and a negative relationship with poverty levels. Both male and female decedents from counties with historically lower incomes and lower land and housing values, have smaller estates, on average, than those from counties with higher income and higher land and housing values. This suggests that it is life-long access to resources and income that contributes the most to wealth and wealth inequality at death.

Authors

• Sandra Charvat Burke, Iowa State University

• Mark A. Edelman, Iowa State University