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According to new analysis, the average worker in the UK would have to work half a century of income to attain the net worth of the richest 10% of the population.

Expanding Wealth Gap Over Time

The analysis analyzed wealth distribution information including the recent health crisis years and found that during the pre-financial crisis era, it would have required nearly four decades of median full-time earnings to enter the richest segment of the wealth distribution.

A senior economist associated with the study observed: "Wealth gaps in Britain are currently so significant that a average worker accumulating their complete salary throughout their career would remain unable to attain the highest level of the wealth ladder."

Measuring the Wealth Divide

The analysis revealed that the difference between the wealth of the typical individual and an individual in the richest segment was one million pounds in the pre-crisis period, but had expanded to £1.3m in inflation-adjusted terms by the pandemic years.

The analyst further stated: "These differences are especially alarming as economic movement in Britain is low – people that start life well-off tend to stay wealthy, and conversely applies."

Relative Wealth Inequality

Although the financial disparity growing in specific figures, the percentage of overall assets in the UK possessed by the wealthiest families – known as "comparative financial divide" – has been "mostly consistent since the 1980s era," as stated in the study.

Over this timeframe, overall assets in the UK increased dramatically from thrice the gross domestic product, to approximately 7.5x.

Drivers of Financial Divide

Termed "passive" gains, through increasing property values and changes in superannuation evaluations, were the key contributors of the widening wealth gap since 2010, according to the analysis.

These appreciations tended to accrue to senior citizens with real estate, the study demonstrates – worsening the age-based economic gap.

Intergenerational Financial Divides

The median economic difference between people in their early 30s and sixty-somethings more than doubled in real terms, from 135 thousand pounds in the mid-2000s, to £310,000.

Regional Disparities

Furthermore, the study revealed pronounced geographic differences, with the median value of wealth in recent years amounting to £290,000 in the southeastern region, where housing costs have typically increased quickly, as opposed to £110k in the northeastern region.

Pandemic Period Consequences

During the pandemic, when numerous employees were protected by the public-funded employment protection, and health crisis restrictions limited opportunities for spending, the statistics indicate numerous families were in a position to set aside money, increasing their wealth.

Wealthier families achieved superior outcomes, though. "The typical family in the poorest fifth saw their available funds rise by merely £80 during the COVID years (across the pandemic timeframe), broadly the same as the 24 months before COVID. On the other hand, the average household in the wealthiest fifth saw their available funds increase by £4,200," the study reveals.