Inheritance in the Federal Republic of Germany: The relation between family solidarity and social inequality

Although inheritance is an important subject of sociological research, so f ar very little is known about it within the Federal Republic of Germany. In heritances are an expression of family solidarity and they have immense con sequences on social inequality. Empirical analyses based on the German Agin g Survey prove that on the one hand inheritances contribute to the reproduc tion of social inequality, and on the other hand they are the direct cause of increasing social differences. Inheritances favor individuals with a hig her level of education and discriminate against those individuals who, due to their social backgrounds, have a much slighter chance of achieving highe r social positions in any case. Individuals with a lower secondary school-l eaving certificate (Hauptschulabganger) inherit substantially less - and le ss often - than individuals with an academic training. The same applies to East Germans in comparison to West Germans, in that the considerably lower wealth of East Germans has, as expected, a clear influence on their chances of receiving inheritances. Compared to this, the differences between women and men in this field are much smaller.