Intergenerational wealth transfers in Great Britain from the Wealth and Assets Survey in comparative perspective

Brian Nolan, Juan C. Palomino, Philippe Van Kerm, Salvatore Morelli

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Wealth surveys that collect information on intergenerational transfers provide new scope for comparative study of those transfers and their relationship with wealth across rich countries. However, this is problematic in the case of Great Britain, due to specific features of the Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS), the central source of survey-based household wealth data, in particular the extent of missing information in its first wave. This has severely constrained efforts to investigate patterns of wealth transfer in Great Britain in comparative perspective. In this paper, we set out these issues and present ways of dealing with them. On this basis, we then examine the main similarities and differences in patterns of intergenerational transmission of wealth between Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States. Our findings reveal common features across these countries as well as some important respects in which Great Britain was distinctive, though less of an outlier than the US. About 35 per cent of British households reported receiving an intergenerational wealth transfer at some point, similar to most of the comparator countries but much higher than the US. We conclude by setting out how WAS can be enhanced to address these issues at source, proposals with which the Office for National Statistics is seriously engaged.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)179-199
Number of pages21
JournalFiscal Studies
Volume43
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Andrew Summers (LSE), Arthur Kennickell (GC CUNY) and the participants at the Transmission of Wealth Workshop at Nuffield College and the INET Seminar Series in Oxford for valuable comments and suggestions. They also thank Carla Kidd and her ONS colleagues for their invaluable assistance in using WAS and for their very constructive engagement with the issues and proposals around it set out here. This paper draws on the research project ‘The Wealth of Families: The Intergenerational Transmission of Wealth’ funded by the Nuffield Foundation ( www.nuffieldfoundation.org ). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily the Foundation. Support from ERC Grant Agreement n. 856455 for project DINA is also acknowledged.

Keywords

  • Great Britain
  • intergenerational transfers
  • surveys
  • wealth

Cite this