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Per recent analysis, the median worker in the UK would have to work half a century of income to achieve the wealth level of the wealthiest 10% in the country.

Expanding Financial Divide Through the Years

This research examined financial assets information including the 2020-22 timeframe and discovered that back in the pre-financial crisis era, it would have required 38 years' worth of average worker salary to enter the richest segment of the economic ladder.

A senior economist associated with the study observed: "Economic disparities in Britain are presently so substantial that a typical full-time employee saving all their earnings throughout their career would remain unable to achieve the peak of the financial hierarchy."

Measuring the Economic Gap

The study found that the disparity between the wealth of the average person and a person belonging to the wealthiest decile was £1m in 2006-08, but had expanded to £1.3m in real terms by 2020-22.

The analyst added: "These differences are particularly worrying as economic movement in Britain is limited – people that start life affluent tend to stay wealthy, and conversely applies."

Proportional Economic Disparity

Even with the wealth gap expanding in specific figures, the percentage of total wealth in the UK owned by the wealthiest families – termed "relative wealth inequality" – has been "largely unchanged since the 1980s," as stated in the research.

Throughout these years, overall assets in the UK increased dramatically from thrice the yearly economic output, to approximately 7.5x.

Drivers of Financial Divide

So-called "automatic" increases, via growing real estate costs and variations in pension valuations, were the key contributors of the growing financial disparity from 2010 onward, according to the study.

These increases typically went to older, property-owning households, the study demonstrates – worsening the age-based economic gap.

Age-Based Wealth Disparities

The average wealth gap between individuals aged 30-34 and sixty-somethings more than doubled in real terms, from 135 thousand pounds in pre-financial crisis, to £310k.

Area-Based Variations

Additionally, there were significant regional variations, with the typical amount of assets in recent years standing at £290k in the southeastern region, where property prices have typically increased quickly, versus £110,000 in the north-east.

Pandemic Period Effects

During the pandemic, when numerous employees were supported by the public-funded employment protection, and Covid shutdowns curtailed consumption options, the statistics indicate many households were in a position to set aside money, growing their net worth.

Wealthier families performed significantly better, though. "The median home in the lowest-income quintile 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 median home in the highest income quintile saw their liquid savings grow by 4,200 pounds," the analysis concludes.