Generational Inequality

Generational inequality refers to differences in resources, opportunities, and life chances between age cohorts, including gaps in housing, wealth, income, job security, pensions, and exposure to risks such as climate change. Karl Mannheim's analysis of generations established that cohorts occupy different positions in historical time, and Matilda White Riley's age stratification perspective examined how institutions allocate roles and rewards by age. Samuel Preston highlighted shifts in public resources between the old and the young, while Thomas Piketty documented the growing importance of inherited wealth. Research by Jennifer Silva and Guy Standing described the precarity facing younger workers, and Jane Falkingham and others have studied the economic position of cohorts in Britain. Vern Bengtson analyzed how families transfer resources across generations. Critics, including Robert Binstock, caution against framing inequality as a war between young and old, noting that class, race, and gender inequalities run within every cohort and that older people are not uniformly advantaged. Policies include housing reform, pension design, and education funding. Generational inequality remains central to research on aging, wealth, welfare, work, and social justice.