Inheritocracy: How the inheritance economy is keeping families together but pulling society apart will explore the extraordinary impact of the inheritance economy, where opportunity is defined not by what you learn or earn but by what you inherit - in your parent’s lifetimes and of course when they pass. Over the next three decades, roughly £5.5 trillion of family money and assets will be passed down the generations, transforming the financial and social dynamics of the country. Forget the generation gap; the real fault line within generations is now between those who can rely on family financial support and those who can’t - and today's millennials, often caught between raising children and looking after parents, are at the epicentre of this epic wealth transfer.

Inheritocracy explores how this unprecedented movement of wealth shapes the lives of those who consistency give, and those lucky recipients, while examining what this slow-motion financial revolution means for those who won't benefit from it. Dr Filby also shines a light on how the financial services industry is responding to the demands generated by such profound economic change. The inheritance economy is a story of winners and losers, but it’s also a story of huge social change, economic realignment, financial opportunity and political controversy. 

Inheritocracy delves into this phenomenon and goes in search of its recent history; from the rise of the bank of mum and dad, to the challenges of inheritance in an ageing society, from the impact of inheritance on class and families to the financial system and services that underpin it.

Centred on stories that illustrate the economic dilemma in Britain, taking in interviews with leading historians, economists, sociologists and politicians along the way, Inheritocracy is a fresh and compelling exploration of our recent past and a future that will be shaped – for better or worse – by the largest transference of wealth in human history.

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