Marriage and wealth

Americans working in managerial or professional occupations boast an average net worth of $1.06 million and that's much more than roughly $269,000 net worth for people working in technical, sales, or services jobs. (Motley Fool, Jan. 2016) But also, that's household wealth--and managerial and professional people are more likely to be married (that's 2 incomes) than lower income people, to have graduated from college, and to save and invest. Marriage benefits for black couples are remarkable, but played down in government social studies (that said, black women benefit less than black men).

Marriage and education also provide health benefits, not only does education give them a boost, but even having children who go to college adds to their life span (Pew Research, July 2014). Professionals are less likely to be obese or smokers--maybe their kids nag them. Marriage provides other benefits like inheritance from 2 families even if it's a small amount like insurance or real estate. We have no control over our ethnicity, but Asian Americans are much better at checking all the boxes. 84% of Asian American children live in 2 parent homes.