Despite of the particular importance of wealth as a measure of economic well-being and the various functions of wealth, its distribution on the individual level as well as the reasons for inequality in wealth holdings in Germany have not been fully explored. Marital splits constitute a potential...

In most Western economies, the flourishing of the Welfare State has coincided with a decline of the role of the family: divorce has been introduced, and the number of marriages has decreased. We suggest that a taboo against divorce was part of the informal safety net in a period when social...