2004 Articles

The Impact of Parental Wealth on Early Living Standards in Israel

Spilerman, Seymour

This article examines the role of parental wealth as a determinant of the living standards of young adults in Israel. Living standards were examined in terms of four measures: home ownership, car ownership, schooling after marriage, and a subjective evaluation by the respondent. Israel is a strategic site for examining the interplay between parental wealth and living standards because of the particular organization of its housing market. The study focuses on the role of parental wealth in the early years of marriage because young couples in Israel have great financial need at that time but are liquidity constrained. The main finding is that, net of indicators of parental SES and a couple’s own income, parental wealth plays a substantial role in the living standards of young adults.