True Romance

Rich girl meets poor boy (or rich boy meet poor girl). They fall in love and despite their differences, marry and live happily ever after.

The script of many a Hollywood romantic blockbuster.

Though rags to riches love stories are technically possible, economic analysis suggests they are extremely rare. In fact, the wealthier or poorer a person’s parents are, the greater the chances that he or she will marry someone from the same financial background, according to a new study co-authored by Prof. Charles, Erik Hurst of the University of Chicago and Alexandra Killewald of the University of Michigan.

If money were irrelevant to spousal selection, wealthy people would be as likely to marry someone from the poorest category as from the richest, said Prof. Charles. One fifth of the wealthiest individuals would choose spouses from the poorest category, another fifth from the second poorest category and so on. Instead, the study found that 40 per cent of men and women with parents in the wealthiest category married partners from the same financial background.

How many men reached across the financial divide to marry women from the poorest group? Just 10 per cent. What about the rich girls? Even fewer wealthy women -- 8 per cent -- married men with parents in the lowest wealth category. Those that did stray out of their wealth category didn’t go far: about 65 per cent of men and women with rich parents chose spouses from the same category or the one just below it.

The outcome was the same at the opposite end of the spectrum, with men and women in the poorest group most often finding partners from the same financial category. And the results didn’t change much when the researchers adjusted for education and race - two elements thought to have a strong impact on marital patterns.

Marrying outside your wealth bracket in the U.S. is “unlikely if you are poor and rare if you are rich,” said prof. Charles. “It’s not impossible, true. But don’t hold your breath”