Intergenerational social mobility in Britain

Robert Joyce and David Sturrock, Institute for Fiscal Studies

(Project no. 1013713)

We will document the distribution of inheritances that have been received/given and are expected to be received/given in future. In doing so, we will investigate how this differs across cohorts, education and economic activity of both the receiving and giving generations, as well as across regions. Using this as an input, we will then construct a lifecycle model of savings, consumption and labour market choices, and assess the extent to which the distribution of inheritances is quantitatively important in understanding the distribution of wealth in Britain. This will help us to understand the determinants and consequences of inequalities in lifetime wealth and intergenerational social mobility, and to underline implications for policy.