The Impact of Assortative Mating on Income Inequality in Switzerland

Homogamy is one of the possible drivers of income inequality in society. This study analyses the influence of homogamy in partners’ earnings on income inequality in Switzerland using data of the Swiss Household Panel from 1999 to 2015. The first part monitors homogamy in educational levels, parental education, hourly wages and realised yearly earnings using correlation coefficients. The second part estimates the impact of assortative mating on income inequality using counterfactual simulations. By focusing not only on realised earnings but also on hourly wages, we can distinguish between the effect of homogamy from the effects of labour supply adjustments. In addition, we take into account the selection into partnership. Results show a very weak correlation between partners’ realised earnings. The observed Gini coefficient of realised earnings is not different from the Gini in a scenario where partners match independently of their earnings. Two processes explain these results. First, there is relatively little homogamy in hourly wages. Second, adjustments of labour supply to partner’s characteristics have an equalising effect that can offset the impact of homogamy

The Impact of Female Labour Force Participation on Household Income Inequality in Switzerland

Cet article traite du lien entre le taux d’activité des femmes et l’inégalité de revenu des ménages à partir des données du Panel suisse de ménages (2000–2014). Une analyse de décomposition de mesures d’inégalité montre que l’augmentation du taux d’activité des femmes a tendance à réduire cette inégalité. Les causes principales en sont l’entrée des femmes sur le marché de travail, l’augmentation des taux d’occupation du travail à temps partiel – mais non pas le passage du travail à temps partiel au travail à plein temps – et la faible corrélation des revenus entre partenaires

Do Opposites Attract? Educational Assortative Mating and Dynamics of Wage Homogamy in Switzerland 1992-2014

This paper addresses homogamy and assortative mating in Switzerland. The empirical analysis monitors trends for education and hourly wages using the Swiss Labour Force Survey and the Swiss Household Panel. The analysis disentangles the effects of educational expansion from mating patterns and incorporates not only couples, but also singles. Results show an increasing level of assortative mating both for education and for wages. For wage homogamy, selection is more important than adaptation

Wealth, Savings and Children Among Swiss, German and Australian Families

Although sociologists pay increasing attention to wealth, we know very little about the relationship between children and wealth accumulation. Using the information on wealth from panel surveys (the Swiss Household Panel, the Household of Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia and the German Socio-Economic Panel), we study families’ wealth accumulation in different social and political settings. This contribution tests how children affect the propensity to save and net worth. It also addresses anticipation effects when individuals plan to have a child. The results from fixed effects models show that dependent children reduce the probability to save, whereas planning for a child increases the probability to save. To test whether lower or higher expenditure is responsible for lower saving probability, we estimate models with earned income and labour supply as mediator variables. Small children are found to reduce saving mostly through income losses, and older children reduce saving through higher expenditures. In the long run, children have moderate negative consequences on wealth accumulation in all countries (6714 CHF per grown-up child in Switzerland, 15,462 AU$ in Australia, and 619 EUR in Germany)

Les opposés ne s’attirent pas – le rôle de la formation et du revenu dans la mise en couple en Suisse

Le niveau de formation et de salaire sont-ils devenus plus importants dans la sélection d’un partenaire ? Cette question est fondamentale pour comprendre les inégalités dans le couple et entre les ménages. Sur la base de l’Enquête Suisse sur la Population Active (ESPA) 1992, 2000 et 2014 et du Panel Suisse de Ménages (PSM) de 2000 et 2014, nos résultats indiquent que la sélection d’un partenaire dépend fortement de son niveau de formation et de son salaire. Durant les deux dernières décennies, l’appariement sélectif a augmenté en Suisse parce que les couples avec un bas niveau de formation se marient plus souvent entre eux. La probabilité de vivre seul dépend aussi du revenu et du niveau de formation. Les hommes et femmes avec une formation de niveau tertiaire ont une probabilité plus élevée de vivre seuls. Cependant, cette probabilité est en train de diminuer avec le temps. La probabilité de vivre seuls reste élevée pour les hommes à faible revenu

Comparison of survey data on wealth in Switzerland

Beyond income, wealth is one of most relevant components among national and international indicators of household finances. Three surveys that include Switzerland have recently integrated questions about wealth and its components. These surveys are the Swiss Household Panel -SHP- (2016), the Statistics on Income and Living Conditions -CH-SILC- (2015), and the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe -SHARE- (2015). Following three important criteria suggested by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), namely relevance, coherence and accuracy, this study systematically compares data on housing and financial wealth. The analysis addresses question wording, the comparison with national accounts and accuracy. Results suggest that SHARE is the most relevant survey in terms of financial wealth and total net worth. CH-SILC is a coherent survey that allows for additional analysis on subjective living conditions, while the SHP is an ecological survey in terms of the number of questions on wealth