Parental transfers of money and co-residence to young-adult children can serve as means of status reproduction. Yet, the relationship between inequality and socio-economic gaps in these forms of parental support has not been studied. Inequality may widen socio-economic differentials in monetary and co-residential transfers, potentially hindering social mobility. I test the association between income inequality and socio-economic divides in parental support to children aged 22–35 in the United States (U.S.), a context where the economic dependence of young adults has increased over decades of high or rising inequality. I link state-level inequality data to longitudinal data on 39,626 parent–child dyads from the Health and Retirement Study (1992–2018). Using state fixed-effects models I investigate how changes in income inequality within states relate to changes in wealth, income, and educational gradients in parental transfers over time. Socio-economic differences in the occurrence and amount of money transfers widen with inequality, as the probability of monetary support decreases among lower-class and lower-educated parents, while the amounts transferred increase among upper-class and higher-educated parents. Moreover, in times of higher inequality, co-residence is more strongly concentrated among lower-class, lower-educated parents. Previous research indicates that receiving money improves labor and housing market outcomes, while co-residence may restrict economic opportunities among young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds. In light of this, my findings suggest that rising U.S. inequality may hinder social mobility by shifting the socio-economic distribution of intergenerational support.

中文翻译：

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美国父母向年轻人转移的不平等和社会经济鸿沟


父母将金钱转移和与年轻成年子女同住可以作为身份再繁殖的手段。然而，这些形式的父母支持中的不平等与社会经济差距之间的关系尚未得到研究。不平等可能会扩大货币和同住转移支付的社会经济差异，从而可能阻碍社会流动性。我测试了美国 （U.S.） 父母对 22-35 岁儿童的支持中收入不平等与社会经济鸿沟之间的关联，在几十年来高度或不断加剧的不平等中，年轻人的经济依赖性有所增加。我将州一级的不平等数据与健康与退休研究（1992-2018 年）中 39,626 个亲子二人组的纵向数据联系起来。使用州固定效应模型，我研究了州内收入不平等的变化如何与财富、收入和父母转移的教育梯度随时间的变化相关。金钱转移的发生和金额的社会经济差异随着不平等而扩大，因为低阶层和低教育程度的父母获得金钱支持的可能性降低，而上层阶级和受教育程度较高的父母的转移金额增加。此外，在不平等加剧的时代，同居更强烈地集中在较低阶层、受教育程度较低的父母中。先前的研究表明，收款可以改善劳动力和住房市场的结果，而同住可能会限制来自弱势背景的年轻人的经济机会。有鉴于此，我的研究结果表明，美国日益加剧的不平等可能会通过改变代际支持的社会经济分配来阻碍社会流动性。