Why is it so hard to counteract wealth inequality? Evidence from the United Kingdom

Journal article

Despite high and rising levels of wealth inequality, many advanced democracies have cut taxes on inherited wealth in recent decades. To explain this puzzle, we argue that taxing inherited wealth is politically difficult because, paradoxically, the people who have the strongest material interest in higher taxes, low-wealth renters, are those least likely to express a clear opinion. Instead, the political terrain is shaped by the preferences of homeowners, and their children, who have a strong material interest in lower inheritance taxes. Empirically, we first evaluate this argument using original survey data from the United Kingdom. In two survey experiments, we then examine how exposure to information influences views on inheritance taxation. While we find no effect of providing statistical information about the distribution of housing wealth, preferences are influenced by explanatory information that explicitly outlines the potential effects of inheritance taxation.

Authors: Elkjaer, M; Ansell, B; Bokobza, L; Cansunar, A; Haslberger, M

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Journal: World Politics More from this journal
• Volume: 77
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 515-561
• Publication date: 2025-07-07
• Acceptance date: 2024-07-17
• DOI: 10.1353/wp.2025.a964464
• EISSN: 1086-3338
• ISSN: 0043-8871
• Language: English