From: rons@hardy.u.washington.edu (Ronald Schoenberg)
Subject: Re: Back Again To Father Notification...
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1992 18:53:02 GMT

In article <1992Nov6.171532.17207@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com> bhv@areaplg2.corp.mot.com (Bronis Vidugiris) writes:
>In article <1992Nov5.163044.14483@u.washington.edu> rons@hardy.u.washington.edu (Ronald Schoenberg) writes:
>)In article <1992Nov5.080057.13807@cbnewsk.cb.att.com> noraa@cbnewsk.cb.att.com (aaron.l.hoffmeyer) writes:
>
>)>.59 cents to the dollar and all that rot.  Nay.  `Twas brillig.  Women
>)>have equal control of the wealth.  Although they are not directly paid
>)>50% of the income in the US, they somehow manage to independently spend
>)>50% of the money.  Also, the single sex/age group with the most money is
>)>women past retirement age.  Seems men don't hang around all that long
>)>after retirement, and everything they worked for typically becomes all
>)>her's.  Yes, the starving elderly women and diamonds....
>)>
>)
>)I think you should check out the list of the world's wealthiest people
>)- all men by the way.  Maybe you thought I was talking about income.
>)Even when it's income it's not 50-50, but when it's wealth it's more
>)like 90 to 10 in favor of men.
>
>Sorry.  IMO you are both wrong, though it's suppose it's possible you're both
>right, too :-).   From a 1983 US Dept of Labor publication ("Time of Change")
>
>"Despite the fact that many people believe that women own or control most of
>the wealth in the country, the data show that 60 percent of the top
>wealtholders were men.  In fact, it was not until women were grouped at 70
>years of age that they exceeded the number and percentage of wealthy men -
>possibly because they had outlived the men in their families.
>Further, it was only when assets exceed 500,000 dollars that the number
>and percentage of women exeeded that of men.  It should be noted that there
>were 155 women in this country with assets between $500,000 and $999,999 -
>50.8 percent of the total - and 90 women with assets in execess of $1 million
>50.3 percent of the total.  Proportionately, the largetst single wealthy
>group consisted of single women (which included divorced persons).  WIdows
>were the next largest group.  The data do not substantiate a belief that
>women own or control the wealth in the country; in fact, the evidence is
>to the contrary".
>
>Similar data can be found in 'Statistical Abstracts'.
>
>I do have some unaswered questions about how 'wealth' was defined and 
>how marital property ownership was established, BTW.  (I believe that the
>data ultimately came from tax returns, for what it's worth.)

Hmmm, so you're telling me that all those capitalists who make all the
decisions affecting workers lives - where factories are to go, what
kinds of goods they'll produce, and so on, are mostly women?  I
suppose it is women controlling the big studios we have to blame for
all those hollywood movies stereotyping women as bimbos with large
breasts?  Or for the great predominance of male buddy movies without
any women in them at all?  Or women for deciding that we should
invade Iraq to protect their oil investments?  If women do indeed
control as much wealth as you say it's news to all of the people I
know involved in political/economic/social science and I think it
would be important that you should let them know.

Avoiding taxes is a popular middle class activity, and it appears that
putting property in the name of one's wife is a part of that.  But it
certainly doesn't mean that they control it.
Xref: sparky soc.men:18703 soc.women:18885 alt.abortion.inequity:4866 talk.abortion:46776 alt.feminism:3759