Class not cohort:why “intergenerational inequity” is the wrong frame for thinking about  access to housing and home ownership in Australia

Some brief notes written in response to a request from the Parliamentary Select Committee on Intergenerational Housing Inequity) Class not cohort The current crisis reflects the interaction between three main forces * Changes in the life course meaning that most major stages of life are reached later than in the past. These include completion of education, entry into the mainstream labour force, family formation, childbirth, retirement and death. * Growing inequality, particularly in relation to inter-generational transfers of wealth within families * Decades of misguided public policy which have kept housing prices high Contrary to the implications of a concept like “intergenerational inequity”, within-family transfers of wealth between generations have increased. These transfers traditionally focused on inheritance, but are now increasingly dominated by “in vivo” gifts and loans (the “Bank of Mum and Dad”) from wealthy parents to their adult children. This is better described as…