Your Parents’ Wealth Now Matters More Than Your Salary — With Eliza Filby

Eliza Filby argues that the UK and US are moving from a meritocracy to an “inheritocracy,” where parental wealth, housing equity, education, and networks increasingly determine adult outcomes. She points to massive expected wealth transfers, the rising role of the “bank of mom and dad,” and the way homeownership and elite social circles now depend on family support rather than wages alone.

She says this shift began after the 2008 financial crisis and reflects both economics and parenting culture: parents invest more intensely because the future feels less secure, while children face longer, costlier paths into adulthood. The host adds that even affluent families now routinely bankroll adult children, because many jobs and cities are inaccessible without parental help.

The conversation widens to status, gender, and generational anxiety. Filby argues time has become the new luxury good, Gen Z’s uncertainty has been monetized into business models, and financial nihilism reflects a broken promise about work, housing, and family formation. She also says women’s economic gains have outpaced men’s domestic and emotional adaptation, making modern relationships more transactional and more fragile.