Parental Wealth Effects on Living Standards and Asset Holdings: Results from Chile

This paper examines aspects of the replication of inequality across generations and attempts to assess the extent to which parental resources influence the life chances and living standards of adult children. The data come from a survey of 4,400 households in Chile that focused on parental resources and outcomes in children's lives. The results reveal several pathways by which parental resources affect children's economic well-being. In particular, the living standard outcome measures are influenced indirectly, through parental investments in education and earnings capacity, whereas the wealth holdings of families are largly impacted directly, through transfers of parental assets.