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Using a representative sample of U.S. couples, we found that the correlation in parental wealth between spouses is 0.42. This parental wealth assortative mating accounts for about one-quarter of the conventional intergeneration wealth correlation, and at least seven percent of the intergenerational correlation in income. These results confirm Becker's (1973, 1974) notion that assortative mating might magnify measured parent/child correlations. experience more unemployment spells, marital disruptions, and negative health shocks than white children.

Lastly, for some PSID individuals aged 27 to 35 in 1996, experiencing family head unemployment at the young age (6-12) directly lowered a child's risk tolerance measures, while experiencing family unemployment around age 13 to 18 had little effect. A child is 10% less likely to be in the highest or second highest risk tolerance category, out of four categories given in the PSID, if experienced family head unemployment when young. However, experiencing family une mployment while young does not seem to directly affect a person's choice of occupations. The result suggests that family unemployment at younger age may serve as an instrument for risk tolerance under some circumstances since risk preference is an important, but usually under-reported variable for research on household decisions.