Study of Household Wealth, Debt and Net Worth: The Role of Ethnicity and ofParticipation in Employer-Sponsored Health and Pension Plans

摘要

This study investigates the key factors determining the level of three relatedhousehold financial variables: household wealth, debt, and net worth. It also examines the role of ethnicity as a factor determing these three variables. Special attention is paid to the effect of participation in health care plans and employer-sponsored pension plans on the distribution of these financial variables. The study employs data from wave 4 of the 1990 Panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). The complementary relationship between greater levels of participation in health care and pension plans and large the three ethnic groups studied (White, Black, Latino). Results do not show evident that households not covered by health care plans or by pension plans engage in self-insurance by increasing their levels of saving and investment.