Norway has relatively small income differences compared with many other countries. However, wealth disparities are increasing.
Researchers at NOVA have studied why. They find that parents of different class backgrounds spend and talk about money with their children in very different ways.
"We know a lot about how inequality in income and education is passed down through generations, but we know less about how attitudes toward money are transmitted across generations", says researcher Jon Rogstad.
Rogstad, together with colleagues Ingunn Marie Eriksen and Karolin Moberg, studied parents and children in two Norwegian communities – one dominated by middle-class families and one by upper-class families.
The study follows children and youth from the age of 12 to 16. The parents were also interviewed.
The researchers argue that upper-class families navigate the world with an “ease” that middle-class families are less naturally inclined towards.
"Families in the highest social and economic echelons in Norway feel invulnerable in a way that others don’t", Rogstad says.
"The middle class is more driven by a ‘fear of falling’ and parents teach their children more cautious economic decisions. The risks are smaller, but so are the opportunities for gain and growth."
Through interviews with families from different class backgrounds, the researchers learned about the economic choices they make.
For middle-class parents, money is about security and control.– Researcher Ingunn Marie Eriksen
The middle class: – Money is serious
Middle-class parents tend to take money very seriously. They teach their children that money is not something to play around with, and that it should not be wasted. Also, they tell their children it is important to spend money on the “correct” things.
For children, these are typically expensive phones, jackets, shoes, and bags – items that signal status among peers. For a family, it might be an expensive vacation.
"For middle-class parents, money is about security and control," says Eriksen. "This may be driven by a desire to secure their social position and avoid losing status. This doesn’t necessarily mean financial investments, but rather a pursuit of status symbols."
This attitude was clearly reflected in how children were allowed to spend money received for their confirmation. In Norway, confirmation (konfirmasjon) is a coming-of-age tradition for 14–15-year-olds. It is one of the most widely practiced youth rituals in the country, normally involving generous gifts from family members. Gifts often include money, and most young people will control the largest sum of money they have owned up to that point in their lives.
Middle-class parents often encouraged spending the money on something like an expensive phone or putting it in a savings account. Parents saw money as a serious matter, not something to ‘play with.’ They wanted to teach their children economic responsibility and to make the money last.
"For these families, it was all about maintaining a relatively good position in society, not about further growth," Eriksen says.
Some children learn to keep their money. Some children learn to make it grow.– Researcher Jon Rogstad
The upper class: – Money is play and opportunities
In upper-class families, researchers found a different pattern. Many of these children used their confirmation money to invest in stocks. Several parents knew how financial markets work and could offer guidance.
Some parents even offered guarantees for their children, covering losses if their investments failed. This allowed children to practice investing and learn about the realities of financial markets, without risking much in reality.
"The parents had a fundamental sense of security that allowed them to view money as an instrument for growth," says researcher Karolin Moberg.
"They taught their children to approach economics as a form of play and exploration – not to see money as a scarce resource to be handled with caution."
Being able to play with money without real risk builds confidence and experience. It provides an advantage.– Researcher Karolin Moberg
This sense of security gave the children confidence and willingness to take chances when faced with financial decisions. Many upper-class children experimented with investments in the stock market in their mid-teens, long before peers from other class backgrounds.
"Being able to play with money without real risk builds confidence and experience. It provides an advantage," Moberg says.
Growing inequality is about more than distribution of economic capital
The researchers argue that these different ways of learning about money may help explain why wealth inequality is growing.
"If children from resource-rich families learn to invest, and children from the middle class learn to save and prioritize, the conditions for building wealth are unequal,” says Rogstad.
"Economic security creates room for play, curiosity, and risk-taking. Insecurity creates a need for control. Both mindsets make sense – but the first creates more opportunities."
He argues that the development of economic inequality is about much more than transfers of capital from one generation to the next. It is about learning ways of thinking and feeling about money. They believe parents play a crucial role in how children learn to make financial choices.
"Some children learn to keep their money. Some children learn to make it grow," he adds.
"Some learn that money is serious, while others learn that investing is fun and motivating. An entire worldview and emotional system is at play here – and it can create long-term consequences for inequality in Norway."
Reference
The article The Reproduction of Wealth Inequality: How Middle- and Upper-Class Parents Instil Financial Orientations in Their Children is written by Jon Rogstad, Ingunn Marie Eriksen and Karolin Moberg, researchers at NOVA, OsloMet. It is published in the journal Sociology (2025).
About the study
The article is based on data from Inequality in youth, a broad, qualitative, longitudinal data collection project. The database consists of interviews over time with 81 young people in four different environments in Norway. The first interview round was conducted with 13-year-olds in autumn 2018. The adolescents have since been interviewed multiple times, and the researchers have also interviewed their parents.
