How class divisions are maintained in Norway

Norway has relatively small income differences compared with many other countries. Nevertheless, wealth disparities are increasing. 

Researchers at the Norwegian Social Research institute NOVA have investigated why. 

They find that parents of different class backgrounds spend and talk about money with their children in very different ways. 

"We know a lot about how inequality in income and education is passed down through generations, but we know less about how attitudes towards money are passed on in families", says researcher Jon Rogstad. 

Studied Norwegian children and parents

Together with colleagues Ingunn Marie Eriksen and Karolin Moberg, Rogstad studied parents and children in two Norwegian communities – one dominated by middle-class families and one by upper-class families. 

The study follows adolescents from the age of 12 to 16. Their parents were also interviewed. 

The researchers argue that upper-class families navigate the world with an 'ease' that middle-class families are not able to.

"Families in the highest social and economic echelons in Norway feel invulnerable in a way that others don’t," says Rogstad.

The middle class is more driven by a ‘fear of falling,’ and parents teach their children to make more cautious financial decisions.

The risks are smaller, but so are the opportunities for gain and growth.

The middle class: "Money is serious"

Through interviews with families from different class backgrounds, the researchers learned about the economic choices they make. 

Middle-class parents tend to take money very seriously. They teach their children that money is not something to play around with, and that it should not be wasted. They also tell their children it's important to spend money on the 'correct' things. 

For the children, these are typically expensive phones, jackets, shoes, and bags – things that signal status among peers. For the family, it might be an expensive vacation. 

"For middle-class parents, money is about security and control," says Ingunn Marie Eriksen. 

According to the researcher, this may be driven by a desire to secure their position in society and avoid losing status.

For middle-class families it's not about further growth

 This does not necessarily mean financial investments, but rather a pursuit of status symbols, she explains.

This attitude was clearly reflected in how children were allowed to spend the money they received for their confirmation. In Norway, this coming-of-age tradition normally involving generous gifts from family members. For most teenagers, this is the largest sum of money they have owned up to that point in their lives. 

Middle-class parents often encouraged them to use the money for something they really wanted, such as an expensive phone, or to put it into a savings account.

Parents viewed money as a serious matter, not something to ‘play with.’ They wanted to teach their children financial responsibility and to make the money last. 

"For these families, it was all about maintaining a relatively good position in society, not about further growth," Eriksen says.

The upper class: "Money is play and opportunities"

In upper-class families, researchers found a different pattern. 

Many of these children used their confirmation money to invest in stocks. Several parents had good knowledge of how financial markets work and could offer guidance. 

Some of the parents also acted as guarantors for their children and covered losses if their children's investments failed. 

This allowed the adolescents to practice investing and learn about the realities of financial markets – without really having to risk very much.

Upper-class teens invested in stocks 

"The parents had a fundamental sense of security that allowed them to view money as an instrument for growth," says researcher Karolin Moberg. "They taught their children to approach economics as a form of play and exploration – not to see money as a scarce resource to be handled with caution."

This sense of security gave the children confidence and willingness to take chances when making financial choices.

Many upper-class children experimented with investments in the stock market in their mid-teens, long before their peers from other class backgrounds. 

"Being able to play with money without real risk builds confidence and experience. It provides an advantage," Moberg says. 

Growing inequality is about more than economic capital

The researchers argue that these different ways of learning about money may help explain why wealth inequality is growing. 

Rogstad explains that when children from resource-rich families are taught to invest, while middle-class children are taught to save and prioritise, it creates very different starting points for building wealth.

"Economic security creates room for play, curiosity, and risk-taking. Insecurity creates a need for control. Both mindsets make sense – but the first creates more opportunities," he says.

He argues that growing economic inequality is about much more than simply passing wealth from one generation to the next.

Some children learn to save

It's also about learning how to think and feel about money. The researchers believe parents play a crucial role in how children learn to make financial choices. 

Rogstad says that some children learn to hold on to their money, while others learn to make it grow.

"Some learn that money is serious, while others learn that investing is fun and motivating. An entire worldview and emotional system is at play here – and it can create long-term consequences for inequality in Norway," he says.

Reference:

Rogstad et al. The Reproduction of Wealth Inequality: How Middle- and Upper-Class Parents Instil Financial Orientations in Their Children, Sociology, 2025. DOI: 10.1177/00380385251373004

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