Institute for Fiscal Studies says rising inheritance will hit social mobility. What’s the solution?

With the incomes of young people failing to increase, inheritances they receive are going to play a much larger role in their standard of living as they get older, says a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. James Moore reports

Inherited wealth is set to increase inequality, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (Getty)

It would be wonderful if all men and women really were created equal, but they’re not. Not really. Inequality is baked in from birth, with a child’s future success depending in large part upon their parents’ income, which feeds through to their health, where they are educated, their ability to access higher eduction and, ultimately, to the jobs they end up in. 

Social mobility is a nice idea in theory, but it’s less common in practice than our leaders like to claim – or did you never wonder why the government front benches are full of plummy-voiced posh boys? 

This brings us to the subject of inheritance which, according to some fascinating research published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) today, is becoming increasingly important as an engine of inequality.