Women Lottery Winners More Likely to Divorce

This largely falls in line with the idea that winning big from a lottery game could have a life-changing impact – your connubial bliss for one. The survey argues that female lottery winners are even more likely to seek divorce than their male counterparts.

Lottery Throws a Wrench in the Connubial Bliss

The study posits interesting trends observed in both female and male lottery winners. For one, the study argues that both parties experience the joy of winning the lottery, but women tend to then suffer from a drop in their life satisfaction, which often prompts them to big changes.

While this sounds hard to believe, and male lottery winners would often be the ones to be blamed for divorces, it turns out that women are far more likely to trigger divorce proceedings. NBER took a look into 500,000 lottery winners in Sweden alone and was interested in winners who had won more than SEK1 million ($90,000) or more.

Now, the findings were interesting as single males were more likely to find a partner within five years of winning. Female lottery winners, though, who were in a marriage saw an increase in their risks of divorce. The researchers who conducted the study, David Cesarini, Erik Lindqvist, Robert Östling, and Anastasia Terskaya, did acknowledge that the data should not be taken at face value.

For one, the team admitted that the couples that ended up divorcing could have already been experiencing marital problems. Thanks to winning the money, women had more autonomy, the research claimed, and it was easier for them to extricate themselves from an unhappy relationship or marriage.

Frugal Spenders Likely to Be Happier Together

However, the researchers also noted that people who won the lottery and stayed together were more likely to have an even better marriage in the future and were less likely to seek divorce no matter what difficulties they faced.

The NBER research was interesting for another reason, as it also explained how – according to statistics – couples can be happier together in the future. Moderate spending was the key, as winners who were smart with their money were actually happier and stayed together, leading better lives for longer.

The research also indicated a small positive mental health effect, which in turn reduced dependency on prescription drugs, for example. Nevertheless, people continued to imbibe alcoholic drinks at the same rates as prior to their lottery winnings. Some things never change.