Married Women’s Financial Assets by Employment Status: A Gender Perspective on Asset Formation

Abstract

  The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the gender role division of labor (gender consciousness) on married women’s asset formation, and to determine whether there are differences in the employment status of married women (full-time employee, part-time employee, housewife) and what factors influence financial asset formation for each employment status.

  A web-based survey of 1,000 married women (334 full-time employees, 333 part-time employees, and 333 housewives) between the ages of 30 and 55 revealed that common factors that significantly affected the amount of financial assets under the wife’s name for all types of employment were the wife’s contribution to marital asset formation and the amount of financial assets under the husband’s name. Common factors that significantly affected the amount of financial assets in the wife’s name for both types of employment were the wife’s contribution to marital asset formation and the amount of financial assets in the husband’s name. Particularly for part-time and full-time housewives, the level of marital asset contribution is underpinned by an awareness of the gender role division of labor, and the possibility of financial asset formation in the wife’s name is supported by the husband’s economic strength, as a result of which the asset formation of married women is still in jeopardy. In the future, along with financial education, it will be necessary to enhance education on gender issues in asset formation, women’s increased risk of poverty during divorce and old age, and the social security system.