83% of Spaniards are in favor of inheritance and 61% are in favor of eliminating the inheritance tax

Extensive research on inheritances in Spain reflects a familial sociological profile, in which large majorities believe that, regardless of the relationship between parents and children, the parents' assets should pass to their descendants (this is what 88% believe). ), without conditions (67%) and without distinctions between them (83%).

Although the majority is in favor of distributing the inheritance after death, the study includes forms of inheritance during life: 51% claim to have helped their children to leave home and 37% had helped their children financially in the last year .

The research, carried out by Luis Ayuso, professor of Sociology at the University of Malaga with a Leonardo Scholarship from the BBVA Foundation, and entitled Inheritances in the digital society: family management of intergenerational transfers and heritage in 21st century Spain, concludes that 83% of Spaniards are in favor of protecting inheritance because it represents the effort of parents to children, and 61% are in favor of eliminating the inheritance tax.

Spaniards are in favor of leaving their inheritance to their children regardless of the relationship they maintain, without prior conditions or differences between them. Now, the increase in life expectancy and changes in family relationships are linked to a new individualistic approach: 57% rule out having to save to leave it to their children as an inheritance and a relative majority foresee an old age in their own home. with support from caregivers, compared to 9% who expect to live with a child.

Less than 10% report having had a family conflict linked to an inheritance, but when asked indirectly if they know of any case in their close family circle, 33% say they know of some and 12% say many.

Although the majority is in favor of distributing the inheritance after death, the study includes forms of inheritance during life: 51% claim to have helped their children to leave home and 37% had helped their children financially in the last year .

Less than 10% report having had a family conflict linked to an inheritance, but when asked indirectly if they know of any case in their close family circle, 33% say they know of some and 12% say many.

"The study confirms how inheritance systems are embedded in the predominant model of society at each historical moment," says the author in the study made public today. "In traditional society, inheritance determined access to land, the continuity of the family lineage and legitimized social inequality by ascription in a society of families."

"Inheritances constitute the last communication process of the deceased person with his or her family," the study points out. Cultural aspects based on tradition are combined, but also changing private issues typical of the way in which family members have negotiated with their loved ones the transmission of their heritage, expectations and increasingly important emotional and symbolic issues. and that call into question the regulatory framework," explains Ayuso.

To address this analysis, four discussion groups were organized in the Basque Country, Madrid, Catalonia and Galicia, and four in-depth interviews were carried out with people over 75 years of age. "For the first time there is quantitative data on the management of inheritances thanks to a statistically representative national survey of 1,127 people over 60 years of age. We have chosen this age group because there is a greater probability of having received an inheritance, being able to ask about its management , as well as having considered what to do with his legacy" highlights Ayuso.

According to the researcher, one cannot understand the role that inheritances play in current Spanish society without knowing well its family characteristics. "The generation of people over 60 years of age is characterized according to our study because two out of every three (67%) have a stable partner with whom they live, with 2.1 children on average and 2.5 siblings; 84% also have one nephew. These are therefore generations with a significant family network that have not yet experienced the reduction of said network due to the demographic decline that the following generations will experience. A gradual process of "nuclearization of the family" is observed, however, by the that this tends to revolve around the couple and the children, unlike in the past, where siblings, nephews, grandparents and grandchildren were more present in the family's daily life.

These generations are characterized by informal support to their members: 51% claim to have helped their children leave home, and 18% to their nephews; 72% have provided financial help to their children for training and 16.5% to their nephews; and even 16% claim to have helped their children start a business or make a productive investment, and 10% a nephew.

This presence of informal intra-family help to children and nephews is also present on a daily basis and under different formulas; The study reveals that 37% have helped their children in the last year to deal with everyday expenses, such as filling their shopping cart, paying for electricity or water, giving them money to finish the month, etc. (21% to nephews) and 48% claim to have helped their children in the last year with the care of their grandchildren due to their parents' work (18% to their nephews).

"The social function performed by these people over 60 years of age with their families represents the social support of the younger generations, which if it did not exist would increase the gaps of social inequality in our country. This aid can also be considered as an "inheritance in life" when referring to the transmission of assets from one generation to another: a kind of unwritten law by which one generation helps the next in the process of upward social mobility. This fact also depends on the circumstances and the economic and historical moment lived by each generation; in the case of this study, 58% of the people consulted affirm that they have helped their children more than their parents helped them at the time.

In this informal pact, traditionally the help of parents to their children is compensated by their support in old age. "However, this study confirms how these terms of the "contract" are being modified in current Spanish society, as a consequence of the change that the family is experiencing. The perception that this generation has about what their old age will be like when they cannot be alone does not passes through their children, only 9% expect to be in one of their homes, preferably wishing to stay in their own home with help (39.5%) or in a residence for the elderly (28%)". These results are similar for people who do not have children, highlighting the lower value that having children represents in current Spanish society as an expectation of care in old age. "Whether or not to have children is thus reduced to a specifically emotional question."

In this context, the role that inheritances play in current Spanish society must start from the structure of the Spanish family, but also from its family culture. "The presence of an important familiarism in the members of these generations over 60 years of age. Despite the tendencies towards family individualism present in other areas of the Spanish family, regarding inheritances there is an important consensus: regardless of how it is the relationship between parents and children, the inheritance must be for them (88%).

Inheritance continues to symbolize the family itself, it represents the intergenerational effort from parents to children that ensures family continuity. It is not interpreted individually, but communally. Hence, 73% of those surveyed disagree with the statement that "what I have accumulated during my life is above all mine, so my children or family should not expect anything from my inheritance."

Despite this familiarity, some indicators of change are beginning to be detected. The idea prevails that by the mere fact of being a child a person is worthy of the inheritance from their parents (57%), but in approximately two out of every five cases (40%) the idea is emphasized that they must demonstrate that they deserve that inheritance. inheritance. "Requirements beyond those of blood are beginning to be imposed to be beneficiaries of this inheritance. This aspect is observed especially in generations with a higher level of education and those under eighty years of age."

Thirdly, the existence of a principle of individualistic familialism can also be observed, represented by 57% who are against the idea that "you should save to leave assets to your children/family." "Paradogically, the family continues to be very important in all areas, informal support networks continue to be maintained, but given the increase in life expectancy and more private and individualistic behaviors in new generations, the meaning of savings has a more and more personal than community". The researcher considers that it would be very interesting to see the evolution of this trend in the future.