The gender of capital : how families perpetuate wealth inequality

Two leading social scientists examine the gender wealth gap in countries with officially egalitarian property law, showing how legal professionals―wittingly and unwittingly―help rich families and men maintain their privilege. In many countries, property law grants equal rights to men and women. Why, then, do women still accumulate less wealth than men? Combining quantitative, ethnographic, and archival research, The Gender of Capital explains how and why, in every class of society, women are economically disadvantaged with respect to their husbands, fathers, and brothers. The reasons lie with the unfair economic arrangements that play out in divorce proceedings, estate planning, and other crucial situations where law and family life intersect. Céline Bessière and Sibylle Gollac argue that, whatever the law intends, too many outcomes are imprinted with unthought sexism. In private decisions, old habits die hard: families continue to allocate resources disproportionately to benefit boys and men. Meanwhile, the legal profession remains in thrall to assumptions that reinforce gender inequality. Bessière and Gollac marshal a range of economic data documenting these biases. They also examine scores of family histories and interview family members, lawyers, and notaries to identify the accounting tricks that tip the scales in favor of men. Women across the class spectrum―from poor single mothers to MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos―can face systematic economic disadvantages in divorce cases. The same is true in matters of inheritance and succession in family-owned businesses. Moreover, these disadvantages perpetuate broader social disparities beyond gender inequality. As Bessière and Gollac make clear, the appropriation of capital by men has helped to secure the rigid hierarchies of contemporary class society itself. "Why do women accumulate less wealth than men? Why do marital separations impoverish women while they do not prevent men from becoming wealthy? This groundbreaking work approaches the institution of family from a materialist point of view, breaking with the dominant theory of modern, economically disinterested family relations. It takes seriously the economists, in the wake of Thomas Piketty, who observe a return to property inequality, based on the legacy of capitalism in the twenty-first century. It reconsiders the effectivity of legal changes that profess formal equality between men and women while condoning inequality in practice"-- Sommario fornito dall'editore "Why do women accumulate less wealth than men? Why do marital separations impoverish women while they do not prevent men from becoming wealthy? This groundbreaking work approaches the institution of family from a materialist point of view, breaking with the dominant theory of modern, economically disinterested family relations. It takes seriously the economists, in the wake of Thomas Piketty, who observe a return to property inequality, based on the legacy of capitalism in the twenty-first century. It reconsiders the effectivity of legal changes that profess formal equality between men and women while condoning inequality in practice"-- Provided by publisher Contents Preface to the English Edition Introduction 1. The Family as an Economic Institution 2. Family Reproduction versus Women’s Wealth 3. Acquit the Strong and Condemn the Weak 4. Sexist Accounting under Cover of Egalitarian Law 5. Tax Avoidance and Family Peace at the Expense of Women 6. Can the Courts Make Up for Wealth Inequality? 7. The Particular Hardships of Proletarian Ex-Wives Conclusion Statistical Appendixes Ethnographic and Archival Sources Notes Acknowledgments Index In countries with officially egalitarian property law, women still accumulate less wealth than men. Combining quantitative, ethnographic, and archival research, The Gender of Capital explains how and why women of all classes are economically disadvantaged at crucial junctures in family life such as divorce, inheritance, and succession.