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Inheritocracy
- Author
- Eliza Filby
- Narrator
- Eliza Filby
- Publisher
- Ebury Publishing
- Publish Date
- 17 July 2025
- Run Time
- 9 hours 21 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
The Sunday Times Bestseller!
Many of us grew up believing in a meritocracy, where hard work and a good education brings rewards. Go to university, get a job, put in the hours and things will be OK. That’s what we were told – but the reality is that life chances and opportunities are no longer shaped by what we learn or earn but by whether we have access to the Bank of Mum and Dad. We’re living in an inheritocracy, where parental support is what matters most – whether that’s covering the cost of university, stumping up for a house deposit or helping with childcare. And let’s be honest, this isn’t something we like to talk about with our friends, families or as a society. It’s a modern taboo.
In this timely and revealing book, generational expert Eliza Filby explores the emergence of this inheritocracy through her own life story, revealing how her family’s financial circumstances shaped everything from her education to her dating life, from her career to her class identity. Inheritocracy is a thought-provoking and candid blend of memoir and cultural commentary, told through Eliza’s humorous and insightful voice.
With trillions of pounds set to be passed down the generations over the next two decades, a significant divide is emerging between those who can rely on family wealth and those who can’t. Inheritocracy offers a fresh, captivating and honest look at our recent past and a future that will be shaped – for better or worse – by family fortunes.
© Eliza Filby 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025
Critics Review
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A brilliant book
Amol Rajan
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Witty and evidence-driven... offers a compelling analysis from start to finish
Sadiq Khan
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Both funny and important – it’s like a mash-up between Dolly Alderton and The Economist ... deserves to be read by every young person… and their parents
Rowan Pelling
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A very welcome book on one of the biggest social changes in Britain today ... Filby shows, with vivid personal examples, how this is transforming the relationship between successive generations
David Willetts
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Inheritocracy is that most valuable thing: a subtle, thorough, insightful look at a subject we all tend to shy away from. Filby is by turns funny, informative and familiar; we’re lucky to have her
Nell Frizzell
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The historian and writer revolutionising our understanding of Britain's inheritance economy
New Statesman
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admirably honest about a taboo ... packed with interviews
The Times
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Eliza Filby
- Narrator
- Eliza Filby
- Duration
- 9 hours 21 minutes
- Release Date
- 17 July 2025
- ISBN
- 9780753561928
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Ebury Publishing
- Genre
- Economic systems and structures, Behavioural economics, Economic forecasting, Social classes, Memoirs, Autobiography: philosophy and social sciences
Synopsis
Brought to you by Penguin.The Sunday Times Bestseller!Many of us grew up believing in a meritocracy, where hard work and a good education brings rewards. Go to university, get a job, put in the hours and things will be OK. That’s what we were told – but the reality is that life chances and opportunities are no longer shaped by what we learn or earn but by whether we have access to the Bank of Mum and Dad. We’re living in an inheritocracy, where parental support is what matters most – whether that’s covering the cost of university, stumping up for a house deposit or helping with childcare. And let’s be honest, this isn’t something we like to talk about with our friends, families or as a society. It’s a modern taboo.In this timely and revealing book, generational expert Eliza Filby explores the emergence of this inheritocracy through her own life story, revealing how her family’s financial circumstances shaped everything from her education to her dating life, from her career to her class identity. Inheritocracy is a thought-provoking and candid blend of memoir and cultural commentary, told through Eliza’s humorous and insightful voice.With trillions of pounds set to be passed down the generations over the next two decades, a significant divide is emerging between those who can rely on family wealth and those who can’t. Inheritocracy offers a fresh, captivating and honest look at our recent past and a future that will be shaped – for better or worse – by family fortunes.© Eliza Filby 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025
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