Millennials born in these years set to be 'gifted' free £10,000 in 'wealth transfer'

Middle class millennials are set to gain the most from an "unprecedented" wealth transfer. Inheritance from grandparents is increasingly playing a part in the transfer of wealth in the UK, according to a new report from the Resolution Foundation.

Wealthier baby boomers are more than twice as likely to pass on gifts to their children than their poorer counterparts, the report shows. By 2023, people in their late 60s were £115,000 wealthier than those of the same age in 2006-08.

The overwhelming majority of them expect to hand down their wealth to their children. Eight out of 10 adults over 50 currently expect to leave an inheritance. The number of people receiving large financial gifts of more than £10,000 over a two-year period has more than doubled in the past decade.

READ MORE Premier Inn customers furious over change to hotel bars that's 'needless'

Millennials are those born between 1981 and 1996, currently ages 26–41. 94 per cent of the wealthiest fifth of households leave behind an inheritance, with the number of millenials receiving £10k gifts doubling in the past decade. David Willetts, president of the Resolution Foundation, said: “Inheritance matters more, and trying to get a house out of your earnings has got harder. Wealth can also skip a generation, which helps the grandchildren. Grandparenthood starts mattering more, either because you get money directly from your grandparents or your parents pass it on to you.

“If there are a lot of people for whom getting a stake in society is harder even if they’re working hard and earning a decent income – as owning a home of their own and having a decent pension looks harder – then you definitely have a larger group of people who just simply don’t feel society and the economic system is rewarding their hard work.”

“We’re also showing that the age of inheritance is actually about 60 years old,” said Willetts. “Those people might use it for paying off the mortgage, and it does appear to be associated with increasing the chances that you stop work. It could be the inheritance phenomenon that helps explain why some people in their late 50s, early 60s, are withdrawing from the labour market.”

Molly Broome, an economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “With the value of inheritances looking on track to potentially double over the next 20 years, this could represent a significant generational transfer of wealth. These wealth transfers risk entrenching existing inequalities, as individuals without wealthy home-owning parents miss out on a double advantage.”