Full Story No inheritance, no home: the unjust wealth transfer
Feb 19, 2026
Selena Ribeiro, deputy features editor at Guardian Australia who covers social and economic issues. She talks about the looming $5.4tn intergenerational wealth transfer. She explains how housing and inheritances, not wages, are driving inequality. She explores who benefits, personal impacts on younger Australians, risks to social mobility and democracy, and policy ideas to address the transfer.
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Massive Uneven Wealth Transfer Looms
- Australia faces a $5.4tn intergenerational wealth transfer over the next 20 years driven largely by housing gains.
- That transfer will be uneven and will amplify existing inequalities unless policy intervenes.
Boomer Wealth Isn’t Monolithic
- Not all baby boomers are uniformly wealthy; some have leveraged property into broader investment portfolios while others may need assets for aged care.
- These differences will shape how much wealth actually gets passed to descendants.
Kath And Kim As A Housing Reality Check
- Selena uses the Kath and Kim house as a concrete example to show how middle-class home values exploded over decades.
- The example reveals how impossible it is for many young couples to save a deposit without family help.