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Trends in Intergenerational Home Ownership and Wealth Transmission

Author

Listed:
  • Jo Blanden

    (School of Economics, University of Surrey)

  • Andrew Eyles

    (Department of Economics, University College London)

  • Stephen Machin

    (Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics)

Abstract

Prior research on trends in intergenerational mobility in economic status has focused chiefly on income and earnings. There is hardly any research on trends in intergenerational wealth transmission, at least in part because of the rarity of cross- generational data with wealth measures good enough for a cross-time analysis to be undertaken. In the intergenerational setting, housing tenure data is more widely available than good data on total wealth. This paper uses cross-time changes in intergenerational associations in home ownership to generate evidence on trends in intergenerational wealth mobility. Both home ownership and the value of main residence are shown to be strongly associated with wealth accumulation. The strength of the intergenerational link in home ownership in the UK has grown over time and, as parental home ownership displays a strong relationship with an individual's future wealth, this can be informative about trends in intergenerational wealth transmission. Taken together, the results indicate that intergenerational wealth transmission has strengthened over time in Britain.

Suggested Citation

  • Jo Blanden & Andrew Eyles & Stephen Machin, 2021. "Trends in Intergenerational Home Ownership and Wealth Transmission," CEPEO Working Paper Series 21-05, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised May 2021.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucl:cepeow:21-05
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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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. Moor, Liz & Friedman, Sam, 2021. "Justifying inherited wealth: between ‘the bank of mum and dad’ and the meritocratic ideal," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114445, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Paul Gregg & Ricky Kanabar, 2023. "Intergenerational wealth transmission in Great Britain," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 69(4), pages 807-837, December.
    4. 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.
    5. Buscha, Franz & Gorman, Emma & Sturgis, Patrick & Zhang, Min, 2023. "Ethnic differences in intergenerational housing mobility in England and Wales," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1222, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. 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.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Housing; intergenerational mobility; wealth; cohorts.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets
    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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