Intergenerational persistence of poverty in five high-income countries

Zachary Parolin (), Rafael Pintro-Schmitt, Gøsta Esping-Andersen and Peter Fallesen
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Zachary Parolin: Bocconi University
Rafael Pintro-Schmitt: Bocconi University
Gøsta Esping-Andersen: Bocconi University

Nature Human Behaviour, 2025, vol. 9, issue 2, 254-267

Abstract: Abstract Childhood poverty increases the likelihood of adult poverty. However, past research offers conflicting accounts of cross-national variation in the strength of—and mechanisms underpinning—the intergenerational persistence of poverty. Here the authors investigate differences in intergenerational poverty in the United States, Australia, Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom using administrative- and survey-based panel datasets. Intergenerational poverty is decomposed into family background effects, mediation effects, tax and transfer insurance effects and a residual poverty penalty. The intergenerational persistence of poverty is 0.43 in the United States (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.40–0.46; P

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-02029-w

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