ARE WOMEN MORE RISK AVERSE

We find that single women exhibit relatively more risk aversion in fin ancial decision making than single men. Using US. sample data, we exam ine household holdings of risky assets to determine whether there are gender differences in financial risk taking. As wealth increases, the proportion of wealth held as risky assets is estimated to increase by a smaller amount for single women than for single men. Gender differen ces in financial risk taking are also influenced by age, race, and num ber of children. Greater financial risk aversion may provide an explan ation for women's lower levels of wealth compared with men's. (JEL J16 , D81, G11).