Children may be particularly affected by the consequences of wealth inequality. Today, an estimated one in three children live in poverty in the UK. However, relatively little research has been conducted into how this affects both the experiences of children and their perceptions of inequality. Most explorations of experiences, perceptions and beliefs around economic inequality in the UK have focused on adults, rather than on children and young people, or on how their beliefs might change as they grow up and become more aware of social and moral concerns about fairness and equality.

In this report, we synthesise some of the academic research that investigates children and young people’s beliefs about, and responses to, economic inequality. Across a rapid review of 21 peer-reviewed studies, we find that:

• Older children are more likely to believe in equitable redistributions of resources and opportunities than younger children
• Older children are more likely to perceive inequalities as unfair than younger children, even when it advantages them or their social group
• Children have been shown to have negative emotional responses to social exclusion based on economic status
• The experience of inequality can reduce prosocial behaviour (i.e. sharing) in young children
• Children’s beliefs about inequality are shaped by their own experiences in both real-world and experimental contexts