🔗 Share this article

Per new research, the typical worker in the UK would need 52 years' worth of income to reach the wealth level of the richest 10% of the population.

Expanding Wealth Gap Through the Years

The study examined net worth statistics including the 2020-22 timeframe and found that during the mid-2000s, it would have needed 38 years of median full-time earnings to join the richest segment of the economic ladder.

An economic expert involved with the study stated: "Wealth gaps in Britain are now so large that a typical full-time employee accumulating their complete salary across their entire working life would continue to be incapable to achieve the peak of the economic scale."

Measuring the Wealth Divide

The research discovered that the disparity between the assets of the typical individual and an individual in the wealthiest decile was £1 million in the mid-2000s, but had expanded to £1.3 million in real terms by the pandemic years.

The economist further stated: "These differences are doubly concerning as economic movement in Britain is low – those who commence life affluent tend to remain affluent, and vice versa."

Relative Wealth Inequality

Despite the financial disparity widening in actual numbers, the percentage of total wealth in the UK held by the most affluent homes – termed "comparative financial divide" – has been "largely unchanged since the 1980s era," per the study.

Throughout these years, total wealth in the UK increased dramatically from thrice the annual GDP, to nearly seven and a half times.

Factors of Economic Disparity

Referred to as "automatic" gains, through increasing property values and changes in superannuation evaluations, were the primary factors of the expanding economic divide over the past decade, according to the report.

These gains generally flowed to senior citizens with real estate, the analysis reveals – exacerbating the age-based economic gap.

Generational Financial Divides

The median economic difference between individuals aged 30-34 and people aged 60-64 grew by more than 100% in actual value, from £135,000 in 2006-08, to £310,000.

Regional Differences

Additionally, there were significant regional variations, with the typical amount of assets in recent years standing at £290,000 in the SE of England, where real estate values have generally grown substantially, versus £110k in the northeastern region.

COVID Era Effects

Amid the health crisis, when countless laborers were covered under the public-funded employment protection, and pandemic lockdowns reduced expenditure possibilities, the data shows numerous families were able to save, enhancing their financial standing.

More affluent homes fared much better, however. "The average household in the bottom income bracket saw their liquid savings rise by merely £80 during the COVID years (2019-20 to 2021-22), roughly identical to the 24 months before COVID. On the other hand, the typical family in the top income bracket saw their liquid savings increase by £4,200," the analysis concludes.