Elina Maarja Suitso, Tiit Tammaru, Kadi Kalm and Kadri Leetmaa from the Centre for Migration and Urban Studies at the University of Tartu, and Allan Puur from the Institute of Social Sciences at Tallinn University, examined how residence-based inequality is transmitted across generations in Estonia, a society that has undergone extensive changes over recent decades.
Drawing on Estonian census and register data from 1989–2020, the study traces people’s housing careers in adulthood and links them to their childhood residential environment as well as to the background of their parents and partners. The analysis focuses on the socioeconomic status of the neighbourhoods in which people live later in life.
The results reveal a clear intergenerational neighbourhood echo effect: despite major societal transformations, people’s later place of residence is related to their childhood living environment and their parents’ life trajectories. Alongside parental influence, individual achievements and the partner’s background also increase the likelihood of moving into a more advantaged neighbourhood.
Overall, the study highlights the persistent and universal nature of intergenerational spatial inequality and the long-term impact of childhood residential conditions on future housing choices.
International research on intergenerational housing inequality generally confirms the influence of different forms of parental capital and housing practices on children’s housing careers in adulthood. However, the transmission of residential inequality across major societal upheavals has not previously been examined. The study was completed in cooperation between two Estonian Centres of Excellence in research: the Centre of Excellence in Well-being Sciences (EstWell) and the Centre of Excellence in Energy Efficiency (ENER).
Read more in the article: https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2026.2617580
