Living off assets? European household incomes in the ‘asset economy’

Bibliographic Data

ID24230520
AuthorsMiguel García-Duch (0009-0004-9438-1242, Universidad Complutense de Madrid), Lorenzo Vidal (0000-0002-3121-8649, Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona)
Year2026
Publication date2026-10-08
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocio-Economic Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1475-1461 • E-ISSN: 1475-147X
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/ser/mwag045
OpenAlexW7220962982
LanguageEN
References cited49

This study examines whether the expansion of asset ownership has given rise to ‘societies of petit rentiers’ shaped by generational differences in asset acquisition opportunities. Using the ECB Household Finance and Consumption Survey (2011–2021) covering up to 23 EU countries, we identify ‘petit-rentier’ households that derive at least 10% (and 20%) of total income from the ownership of rent-bearing assets. Together with descriptive statistics, we combine machine-learning feature selection with multilevel modelling to determine the main predictors of petit-rentier status. Our findings point to the continued dominance of traditional axes of inequality—class position and family wealth—albeit with an increasingly central role for real estate. Petit-rentier prevalence declines in most countries and asset-based income shifts towards real-estate rents. Non-worker households and multiple-property owners, rather than age cohort, show the strongest positive associations with petit-rentier status. The ‘asset economy’ appears to consolidate trajectories of income concentration rather than democratisation.

European households · family wealth · generational differences · Household income · income concentration · income inequality · real estate rents · Economic Theory and Policy · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Income, Poverty, and Inequality

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