Per new analysis, the average worker in the UK would have to work 52 years' worth of income to attain the wealth level of the wealthiest 10% nationwide.
Widening Financial Divide Over Time
The study analyzed wealth distribution statistics from the recent health crisis years and determined that during the mid-2000s, it would have needed 38 years of typical employment income to join the wealthiest decile of the financial hierarchy.
A senior economist involved with the study stated: "Financial divides in Britain are currently so significant that a average worker setting aside their entire income during their working years would still not be able to reach the top of the economic scale."
Assessing the Financial Disparity
The research discovered that the disparity between the wealth of the average person and a person belonging to the top 10% was one million pounds in the pre-crisis period, but had expanded to £1.3m in inflation-adjusted terms by recent times.
The economist continued: "These disparities are particularly worrying as financial progression in Britain is low – those who commence life wealthy tend to stay wealthy, and conversely applies."
Comparative Financial Divide
Despite the economic divide expanding in absolute terms, the share of total wealth in the UK held by the richest households – termed "proportional economic disparity" – has been "broadly stable since the eighties," as stated in the analysis.
Throughout these years, overall assets in the UK surged from three times the gross domestic product, to almost 7.5 times.
Factors of Financial Divide
So-called "passive" gains, through growing real estate costs and adjustments to superannuation evaluations, were the primary factors of the widening wealth gap from 2010 onward, per the study.
These increases typically went to senior citizens with real estate, the research shows – exacerbating the age-based economic gap.
Age-Based Economic Gaps
The average wealth gap between individuals aged 30-34 and those in their early 60s increased over twofold in real terms, from £135,000 in 2006-08, to £310,000.
Geographic Variations
There were also stark regional variations, with the typical amount of assets in 2020-22 reaching 290 thousand pounds in the southeastern region, where real estate values have tended to rise rapidly, versus £110,000 in the northeastern region.
Health Crisis Years Consequences
Amid the health crisis, when numerous employees were protected by the taxpayer-backed furlough scheme, and health crisis restrictions curtailed consumption options, the data shows countless homes were capable of accumulating, growing their net worth.
More affluent homes fared much better, however. "The median home in the bottom income bracket saw their cash reserves grow by only eighty pounds over the pandemic period (from 2019 to 2022), roughly identical to the pre-crisis period. On the other hand, the median home in the top income bracket saw their liquid savings rise by £4,200," the report finds.
