The obvious place to start is tackling the growing inter-generational wealth gap. What about ring-fencing a proportion of IHT to help young people who are inheriting the consequences of huge wealth inequality? Using the human life cycle to break the cycle of deprivation is sological.
Just £2bn of the £9.1bn raised through IHT could provide starter capital accounts and education in financial literacy and other important life skills for young people with no prospect of receiving such support otherwise.
For example, starter capital accounts could be opened for 250,000 low-income young people every year, each receiving £500 – a tiny fraction of the levy. It could also fund an incentivised financial awareness programme, enabling disadvantaged young people to earn £1,500 while building financial independence and preparing them for the workplace.
This is the kind of forward-thinking required as we head into 2026. For decades, economists have wrung their hands to deplore the polarisation of wealth, yet none of them have contemplated using the human life cycle as a tool for rebalancing.
The essence of the human life cycle is that humans born into this world have the same mix of potential for individual achievement regardless of class, gender, race or nationality, and that we enter this world with nothing, leaving everything material behind us when we die.
As former chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi put it: “We all want to leave the world a better place for those who follow us.” That wish should not be restricted just to our own direct descendants. This is about providing individual inheritance for young people who have little or no prospect of receiving such support from their own natural family.
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In 2026, we need a broad political acceptance of inter-generational rebalancing to be embedded into the constitution. This means government, charities and philanthropists working together on a reliable and continuous process to give disadvantaged young people the resources and life skills they need to reach their potential in adult life.
The Share Foundation is one charity committed to this pursuit, and looks to build on schemes such as the Child Trust Fund (where it has already linked nearly quarter of a billion pounds of unclaimed accounts) and financial awareness training for young people in care.
The oldest recipients of Child Trust Funds reached 21 years of age on 1 September 2023. Its funding may not have been drawn from inheritance tax receipts, but it represents the first time that a comprehensive programme of starter capital account provision has been made with additional targeting for young people from low-income households.
We are keen to partner with the government to expand this model, but these policies require sustained commitment beyond short-term budgetary pressures. They require proper recognition of the opportunities provided by the human life cycle, such as the £9.1bn raised annually in inheritance levies.
The billions collected in inheritance tax represent a profound opportunity to break the cycle of deprivation – a cycle that will only worsen if we fail to learn from the past. The means to deliver on this exist, the models have been proven, and the need has never been greater.
What’s required now is for politicians to recognise that every young person in this country has equal mix of potential, and that we have the resources and responsibility to deliver it. Let’s make 2026 the year we ensure deprivation is not the inheritance for the next generation.
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Gavin Oldham is the chair and founder of The Share Foundation.
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