The Gender Wealth Gap in Québec

Private wealth is becoming increasingly important in planning for retirement and protecting against life risks; however, limited research has addressed the gender wealth gap in Canada. This gap remains largely unexplored because of the collection of wealth data at the household level in existing surveys within the country, which obscures disparities within couples. To overcome this limitation, this article uses new personal wealth data from an original survey conducted in 2022 in the province of Quebec (N: 4816). The analyses were performed using quantile regression and decomposition at the 70th, 80th, and 90th quantiles. The results reveal significant wealth inequalities favoring men that appear even more pronounced among partnered adults than those who are unpartnered. The gender wealth gap is partly explained by differences in income and ownership of real estate other than the principal residence between men and women. However, a substantial portion of this gap remains unexplained. These findings highlight the need to collect wealth data at both household and individual levels in Canada to better understand gender-based economic disparities. They also call for more research on the processes underpinning the gender wealth gap by suggesting that it does not simply reflect the wage gap between men and women. Le patrimoine individuel joue un role de plus en plus important dans la planification de la retraite et la protection contre les risques de la vie. Toutefois, peu de recherches ont porte sur l'ecart de patrimoine entre les hommes et les femmes au Canada. Cet ecart reste largement inexplore en raison de la collecte des donnees sur le patrimoine realisee exclusivement au niveau des menages dans les enquetes existantes au pays, ce qui occulte les disparites au sein des couples. Pour pallier cette limite, cet article utilise de nouvelles donnees sur le patrimoine individuel tirees d'une enquete originale menee en 2022 dans la province de Quebec (N : 4 816). Les analyses ont ete realisees a l'aide de regressions quantiles et de decompositions aux 70e, 80e et 90e percentiles. Les resultats revelent d'importantes inegalites de richesse en faveur des hommes, qui semblent encore plus prononcees chez les adultes en couple que chez ceux qui ne le sont pas. L'ecart de richesse entre les genres s'explique en partie par les differences de revenus et de propriete de biens immobiliers autres que la residence principale entre les hommes et les femmes. Toutefois, une part importante de cet ecart reste inexpliquee. Ces resultats soulignent la necessite de collecter des donnees sur le patrimoine individuel au Canada afin de mieux comprendre les disparites economiques fondees sur le genre. Ils invitent egalement a des recherches plus approfondies sur les processus qui sous-tendent l'ecart de patrimoine entre les hommes et les femmes, en suggerant qu'il ne reflete pas simplement l'ecart salarial entre eux et elles.

Automated summary

Private wealth is gaining increasing importance in retirement planning and risk protection. However, limited research has been conducted on the gender wealth gap in Canada. This study overcomes the limitation of household-level wealth data by using new individual wealth data from a survey conducted in Quebec in 2022. The results reveal significant wealth inequalities favoring men, particularly among partnered adults. The gender wealth gap can be partly explained by differences in income and ownership of real estate. These findings highlight the need for collecting wealth data at both the household and individual levels to gain a better understanding of gender-based economic disparities.