Opening the A or life insurance booklet at birth is a ritual for many French families. This cultural practice is widespread: more than a third of babies (35%) already have a financial product in their name before they can even walk. As you approach adulthood, this number increases to almost 75%.
However, the universality of this façade, dissected by Marion Leturcq in the INED Population & Societies newsletter, hides a capital concentration of rare intensity. If the average amount held in the name of a minor is 1,300 euros, this figure is just a statistical illusion. In the reality of bank accounts, half of the children in France have nothing, or a symbolic amount of money (less than 500 euros at the age of 16-17 for 50% of them).
On the other hand, 10% of minors have money of more than 3,150 euros from a very young age. What’s even more spectacular: these 10% of blessed children alone account for 74% of the total savings created for minors. Wealth inequality is not the ultimate consequence of a professional career; they are installed from the maternity ward.
Gender exclusion: inequality is social, not sexual
A rare fact in economic statistics that is worth highlighting: gender has not discriminated against children when it comes to capital. The INED study shows clearly: the savings made by girls and boys are very similar, both in the frequency of openings and in the amount. About 55% of girls and boys own at least one financial asset.
This perfect equality stands in stark contrast to the reality in adulthood, where the asset gap between women and men is widening (a phenomenon of asset individualization documented elsewhere by INED). During childhood, only social origin determines the law.
THAT ” wall “ child poverty
Having no savings for 40% of children from low-income households is not a trade-off option, but an accounting impossibility. INED data takes another dimension based on the latest report “Income and wealth” from INSEE (2024). With the child poverty rate reaching 20.6% in France, most of the younger generation are immediately excluded from the logic of accumulation.
Family structure acts as an accelerator of vulnerability. The average standard of living for single-parent families stands at 16,910 euros per year, compared to more than 26,000 euros for couples. In the context of financial survival, building a nest egg for offspring becomes a mere dream. In contrast, among the richest 10% of households, savings are running at full speed: at the age of 16-17, one in ten teenagers in this category already has more than 19,000 euros.
There “main” to his grandparents and only child
Family demographics are also changing the map of the capital. Only children benefit from mechanical flow concentration, with an average saving of 3,100 euros. In a family with three children, dilution prevails: the amount falls below 2,000 euros per head.
But the real hidden influence lies in the depth of the genealogy. The presence of living grandparents is a huge competitive advantage. The usual donations and gifts make this booklet far beyond the capacity of parents alone: a child who still has four grandparents has an average of 3,300 euros, compared to 1,900 euros when this generation disappeared.
An asset for starting adult life
This initial gap determines the speed of entry into adult life. The accumulated amount, which increases from an average of 350 euros for babies to 2,330 euros for 16-17 year olds, finances important assets: driver’s license, vehicle, apartment deposit or school fees.
In the face of these observations, France is an exception in that it has not implemented significant remedial mechanisms, unlike countries such as the UK or Canada which have experimented with Child Trust Funds or Child Development Accounts. For now, minors’ savings remain a private matter, leaving family dynamics that reproduce, or even widen, the wealth gap from one generation to the next.
