Housing wealth inequality, intergenerational transfers and young households in the super-homeownership system

This article focuses on the problem of housing wealth inequality as an increasingly important dimension of social inequality in post-socialist super-home-ownership countries and uses the Czech Republic as a case study. The article shows that housing wealth inequality is higher than income inequality and that it tends to grow in time, especially due to the spatially uneven appreciation of house prices. However, intergenerational housing-related within-family resource transfers have a mitigating effect on growing wealth inequality. Using a microsimulation model, the article shows that any discontinuation of transfers could significantly increase housing wealth inequality in the future, especially among young families. Unlike in some Western societies, intergenerational resource transfers thus work to equalise rather than catalyse housing wealth inequality. These findings have significant implications for measuring social inequalities, demographic trends, and the stability of housing systems in post-socialist countries.