RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Fortunate Families?
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 0824-13793R2
DO 10.3368/jhr.0824-13793R2
A1 Cesarini, David
A1 Lindqvist, Erik
A1 Östling, Robert
A1 Terskaya, Anastasia
YR 2026
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2026/05/01/jhr.0824-13793R2.abstract
AB We estimate the effects of large, positive wealth shocks on marriage and fertility among Swedish lottery players. For male winners, wealth increases marriage formation and fertility and likely reduces divorce risk. For female winners, the only clear effect is a higher short-run (but not long-run) divorce risk. The gendered treatment effects are often similar to income gradients. Our findings align with models in which wives derive greater marginal utility from consumption when single than when married, whereas the opposite holds for husbands—but only if marital property is divided unequally upon divorce. We provide descriptive evidence consistent with such unequal division.