Families transfer wealth and financial support between generations in many ways, including through gifts, loans, inheritances, help with housing costs, co-residence, care arrangements and other forms of ongoing support.
These transfers can help family members manage hardship, enter the housing market, pursue education or employment opportunities or build longer-term economic security.
However, access to family wealth is uneven. Some families can provide substantial support to family members at key points across the life course, while others have limited capacity to do so. And inheritances often arrive after major housing, education and family formation decisions have already been made. This means intergenerational wealth transfers can both reduce hardship within families and reinforce broader patterns of inequality between and within generations.
This snapshot considers intergenerational wealth transfers as family resources shaped by social, economic, relational and legal factors. It builds on AIFS’ research synthesis on contemporary couple relationships by examining what existing data show about how changing family structures, expectations and obligations can shape the material resources available to different family members over time.
It raises questions about the wellbeing of people and families across generations and shows how evidence of the effects of intergenerational wealth transfers is important for informing future policy and legislative action.
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