By Dr. Mingli Zhong | February 2026
Discussions about early wealth-building programs often center on implementation: how should accounts be structured? What savings matches work best? Which investment options make sense?Yet less attention has been paid to how these initiatives connect to the broader landscape of intergenerational wealth transfer, particularly the looming Great Wealth Transfer, a projected $124 trillion shift of assets across generations in the decades ahead. This connection is critical. Understanding how public programs can counterbalance deeply unequal private transfers offers a vital perspective on closing the racial wealth gap and ensuring that early wealth-building efforts translate into lasting intergenerational mobility.
The data reveal a striking paradox: the prevalence of intergenerational giving cuts across racial lines, but the scale varies widely. According to my recent research using the Health and Retirement Study data (2010–2022), nearly identical shares of Black and white respondents transferred assets to spouses (89% vs. 92%) and children (64% vs. 64%). Yet median inheritance amounts tell a different story. White families left $60,000 to spouses and $100,000 to children; Black families left just $9,500 and $20,000, respectively, a five- to six-fold gap. These disparities reflect decades of unequal access to homeownership, wage equity, and retirement savings. But the gap in inherited wealth is only part of the story.
Compounding this disadvantage is a less-discussed reality: intergenerational financial support often flows upward, not just downward. My upcoming research shows that 13% of older adults received more than $500 from an adult child in the two years before death, but the rate climbs to 18% for Black older adults, 16% for Hispanic older adults, and 21% for other non-white groups. When public safety nets and retirement savings fall short, these “reverse transfers” help meet basic needs but simultaneously constrain younger adults’ ability to save, invest, or support their own children, hindering social mobility across generations.
This creates two parallel realities: downward transfers reinforce intergenerational advantage among white families, while upward transfers leave families of color, and particularly their adult children, in even more constrained economic positions. Without intervention, the Great Wealth Transfer won’t lift all boats; it will amplify existing divides. This is where policy can make a difference.
Families with resources seek to provide their children and grandchildren with a strong financial foundation, and private inheritance plays an important role in intergenerational mobility for many. But when some families face the dual burden of receiving little inheritance while supporting aging parents, public investment becomes essential to level the playing field. Programs like baby bonds complement private transfers by ensuring that every child, regardless of family wealth, has access to a modest nest egg at a pivotal life stage. In doing so, they help ensure that the Great Wealth Transfer doesn’t leave entire communities behind.A strong and resilient economy depends on prosperity that reaches every child. Public wealth-building programs represent a shared commitment to ensuring opportunity for all. By extending resources to young people who lack access to substantial private transfers, or who carry the weight of supporting older generations, we can build a foundation where all families have the chance to thrive across generations.
Dr. Mingli Zhong is Senior Research Associate at the Urban Institute and visiting scholar at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.