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Intergenerational wealth transmission in Great Britain

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  • Kanabar, Ricky
  • Gregg, Paul

Abstract

We document the intergenerational persistence of wealth between adult offspring and their parents using the Wealth and Assets Survey for Great Britain. We estimate an intergenerational wealth elasticity of 0.4 and rank-rank elasticity of 0.3 and find wealth persistence for individuals in their 60s is lower than for those currently aged in their 30s and early 40s, though rank based estimates are stable. We estimate that the intergenerational wealth elasticity is 3.8 percentage points higher when comparing people with those the same age six years previously suggesting strong evidence of higher intergenerational wealth persistence in younger age cohorts.

Suggested Citation

  • Kanabar, Ricky & Gregg, Paul, 2021. "Intergenerational wealth transmission in Great Britain," ISER Working Paper Series 2021-04, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:ese:iserwp:2021-04
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    Cited by:

    1. Paul Gregg & Ricky Kanabar, 2022. "Parental homeownership and education: the implications for offspring wealth inequality in GB," CEPEO Working Paper Series 22-01, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Jul 2023.
    2. Buscha, Franz & Gorman, Emma & Sturgis, Patrick & Zhang, Min, 2023. "Ethnic differences in intergenerational housing mobility in England and Wales," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1222 [rev.], Global Labor Organization (GLO), revised 2023.
    3. Kanabar, Ricky & Gregg, Paul, 2022. "Intergenerational wealth transmission and mobility in Great Britain: what components of wealth matter?," ISER Working Paper Series 2022-02, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    4. Jo Blanden & Andrew Eyles & Stephen Machin, 2023. "Intergenerational home ownership," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 21(2), pages 251-275, June.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

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