Résumé

Recent reports suggest that post-millennial generations are the first to be worse off than their parents, on average, in several affluent capitalist democracies. However, we lack systematic country comparisons of generational shifts in wealth accumulation and wealth inequality, which would enable us to disentangle how economic restructuring and welfare state context contribute to generational changes in wealth accumulation. In this study, we compare trends in wealth accumulation and wealth inequality across birth cohorts in the United States and Germany using the US Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF 1989-2022) and the German Einkommens- und Verbraucherstichprobe (EVS, 1993 and 2008) that provide sufficient case numbers to assess generational change across the full wealth distribution. The analyses focus on wealth accumulated by mid-life for each generation using households with a reference person aged 30-39 at the time of the interview. We compare cohorts born 1954-63 (Baby Boomers), 1969-78 (Gen X), and 1984-93 (Millennials). Preliminary findings suggest that increasing wealth inequality is the main generational trend in the United States. Wealth at mid-life is more unequally distributed among Millennials in the United States compared to Baby Boomers, whereas average wealth holdings shift only modestly across generations. In contrast, in Germany, wealth inequality increased more modestly across generations. The primary generational trend in Germany appears to be an overall decline in net household wealth at midlife. We discuss how national economic and policy contexts in Germany and the United States contribute to cross-national differences in generational trends in wealth accumulation and wealth inequality at mid-life.

Référence

Anette Fasang, « Generational Trends in Wealth Accumulation and Wealth Inequality: Comparing Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Millennials in Germany and the United States », IAST General Seminar, Toulouse : IAST, 16 septembre 2025, 11h30–12h30, salle Auditorium 4 (First floor - TSE Building).