Maude Pugliese

When cohabitation becomes a true alternative to marriage, the economic sorting that marriage historically produced can weaken considerably, and its link with broader patterns of wealth inequality shifts. Comments and feedback are very welcome. Feel free to share! #familysociology #wealthInequality

These findings stress that marriage's wealth advantages are not hardwired into the institution itself. They are shaped by cultural and institutional contexts.

Consistent across gender: These patterns appear to hold for both men and women, pointing to broad cultural change in how partnership forms relate to economic outcomes.

Reduced marriage premiums: Marriage itself generates smaller wealth gains in Quebec, particularly for men, suggesting that the economic advantages of marriage may erode when alternative union forms gain equal social standing.

Weakened wealth-marriage selection: This shift appears driven primarily by a weakened association between wealth and marriage entry in Quebec. When marriage is no longer the cultural default, financial resources matter less for who ends up marrying.

Key findings ➡️ Narrowing wealth gaps: The marriage-cohabitation wealth gap declined substantially in French-speaking #Quebec since the 1990s, while remaining stable elsewhere. By 2019, the gap had in fact essentially disappeared in French Quebec.

I use #Canada as a comparative case. I contrast French-speaking Québec, where cohabitation has become a legitimate alternative to marriage for long-term unions, with other provinces and Québec's anglophones, where cohabitation diffused primarily as a longer transitional stage towards marriage.

I argue that whether cohabitation erodes marriage’s historical wealth advantage (or leaves it unchanged) depends on how and why it spreads: as a long-term alternative to marriage, a longer transitional stage, or a response to economic insecurity.

Marriage, Wealth, and the Spread of Cohabitation in Canada Research demonstrates a robust link between marriage and wealth. Wealth facilitates marriage, which then fosters wealth accumulation, resulting in significant net worth disparities between married an...

🧵 New paper out! Married couples have long been wealthier, on average, than cohabiting couples. But does this still hold as unmarried cohabitation becomes increasingly common? Find out in my latest paper in @bjsociology.bsky.social available in #OA: doi.org/10.1111/1468...

💸🚨I am hiring 2 Postdocs for my ERC-funded project SOCDEBT on #debt dynamics across countries. One position: #SocialStratification + strong quantitative skills. The other: qualitative research and #EconomicSociology. waitkus.github.io/SOCDEBT/ 🚨💸

Excited to share a new #OA study with @dariatisch.bsky.social and @schechtlm.bsky.social🎉We show that while most people prefer equal inheritance, wealthy individuals are more willing to support unequal transfers when they help preserve wealth across generations ➡️ academic.oup.com/sf/advance-a...

Over the moon to announce OVERINVESTED, my new book baby due January 20, 2026, with a starred Publishers Weekly review. “Overinvested: The Emotional Economy of Modern Parenting” press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Would love to be added! Thanks!

5/5 It may still be too early for the effects of Québec’s policies on wealth gaps to be fully observable. We need research to keep tracking interprovincial trends going forward. More importantly, Canada needs individual-level data to better understand and address enduring gender wealth gaps.

4/5 Did the family policy implemented in Québec in the 2000s improve wealth gaps? The evidence is mixed. Non-pension wealth gaps declined more in Québec than in several other provinces, but Ontario experienced similar improvements, suggesting that other factors may also have been at play.

3/5 Women consistently possess less wealth than men. However, this gap has narrowed significantly over time in the domain of workplace pension wealth.

2/5 We know relatively little about gender wealth gaps in Canada because wealth data are primarily collected at the household level, which conceals within-family inequalities. To address this issue, we used a machine learning approach to estimate individual-level wealth for men and women.

1/5 Is there a gender wealth gap in Canada? In my latest paper with Mamadou Diallo and @dianapenaruiz.bsky.social, we provide some answers. We also compare gender wealth gaps across provinces and over time to assess whether Québec’s adoption of a family policy reduced these gaps. rdcu.be/eOvwS 🧵

Call for Applications for Postdoctoral Research Position Call for Applications for Postdoctoral Research Position at the AxPo Observatory of Market Society Polarization at Sciences Po, Paris, FranceGeneral informationPosition Definition: Post-doctoral resea...

The AxPo Observatory on Market Society Polarization at Sciences Po is offering a 2-year postdoctoral position focusing on socioeconomic polarization and fragmentation.
Ph.Ds in sociology, economics, political science, and related fields are encouraged to apply.
www.sciencespo.fr/axpo/applica...

Assistant Professor in Sociology at Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin An opportunity for an academic position as a Assistant Professor in Sociology is available, as advertised on jobs.ac.uk. Apply now and explore other academic job openings.

📣 Trinity College Dublin is hiring 2 #tenuretrack Assistant Professors in Sociology.

👉 Environmental Sociology. Closing Dec 1
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPH703/a...

👉 Gender and Sexuality. Closing Dec 2
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPI055/a...

@tcdsociology.bsky.social
@isa-rc28.bsky.social @eaps.bsky.social

Staying Apart for the Kids? Older American Daters and the Preservation of Family Wealth Romantic repartnering in later life has received substantial scholarly and public attention in light of population aging and changes in family dynamics. In the United States, the importance of househ...

Excited to finally share my new paper (w/Raphaël Charron-Chénier) out in BJS! Staying Apart for the Kids looks at how older adults consider preserving family wealth in their new relationships. Drawing on my interviews with mid/late-life daters, we show how accumulated wealth shapes dating decisions.

Are you a new or soon-to-be PhD? Do you work on socio-economic inequality, poverty, and/or mobility? Do you study income, wealth, or earnings? Are you passionate about research as well as policy analyses? If so, we may be the perfect home for you, starting in fall 2026? Take a look! 🍎 #postdoc 👇👇👇

New paper: @katjamoe.bsky.social, @claraoverweg.bsky.social and @apweiland.bsky.social study the motherhood penalty in net wealth and public pension wealth in Germany

www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

Unnatural Wills: Inheritance Disputes and Inequality Within the conceptual frame of relational economic sociology, inheritance disputes are a canonical form of relational mismatch. But the social patterning of relational mismatches, and their various t...

I am soo excited to share my newest article, “Unnatural Wills.” It’s about inheritance disputes!!! Murder, gold diggers, sex work, racial passing, secret lesbian lovers…WOW this was fun to write, and I hope it’s fun to read, too.

⭐🎓The Department of Sociology in Vienna @univie.ac.at‬ invites applications for a Tenure Track Professor in Sociology with focus on Quantitative Social Science Research Methods | #Sociology | quant methods

Apply here (17 Sept 25): jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Tenure-T...

📣 We are seeking to fill multiple postdoctoral positions! We have funding to fill NIH T32 program-based positions. Positions start Fall 2025, but timing is flexible! We'll begin reviewing applications July 21st, 2025 - so don't wait! Apply now! pop.umn.edu/training/pos...

Super proud and happy that the special issue of Socio-Economic Review on gender and wealth is finally out🎊 🎉
8 great articles! 🤓
We've also attempted to navigate this rapidly expanding international field of research with @maudepugliese.bsky.social
A thread to explore the content of the SI🧵⏬

Enormous thanks to all authors, reviewers and the SER editors!

Issues | Socio-Economic Review | Oxford Academic The official journal of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics. Articles focus on economic action in its social and historical context, and the relationship between society, economy, insti...

10/ 📖 Access the full issue here: academic.oup.com/ser/issue

9/🔹 Wealth, gender and sexual orientation—evidence from siblings
by Erwan Dujeancourt, Anne Boschini et Anna Nordén doi.org/10.1093/ser/....