Abstract
The rapid widening of wealth inequalities has led to sharp differences in living standards in Great Britain. Understanding whether and separately the rate at which individuals accumulate particular types of wealth by family background is important for improving wealth and social mobility. We show offspring wealth inequality is driven by housing wealth, and holding such wealth is becoming increasingly associated with early life circumstances relating to parental housing tenure and education, even after controlling for adult offspring's own characteristics. Importantly, we find adult offspring whose parents hold a degree and are homeowners are no less likely to report homeownership and housing wealth compared to older cohorts from the same background. Our findings infer the intergenerational rank correlation in housing wealth is set to double in approximately three decades.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Journal of Social Policy |
Early online date | 21 Sept 2023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 21 Sept 2023 |
Keywords
- Great Britain
- housing
- inequality
- intergenerational mobility
- wealth
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
- Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
- Public Administration