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Based on new research, the typical employee in the UK would have to work 52 years' worth of salary to achieve the net worth of the wealthiest 10% nationwide.

Growing Economic Disparity Across Decades

The analysis reviewed wealth distribution data including the 2020-22 timeframe and discovered that back in the pre-financial crisis era, it would have taken 38 years of median full-time earnings to join the richest segment of the economic ladder.

An economic expert part of the analysis observed: "Economic disparities in Britain are currently so significant that a typical full-time employee saving all their earnings across their entire working life would still not be able to reach the top of the economic scale."

Assessing the Wealth Divide

The study found that the difference between the assets of the typical individual and someone in the wealthiest decile was £1 million in 2006-08, but had expanded to £1.3 million in actual value by recent times.

The economist added: "These gaps are particularly worrying as economic movement in Britain is limited – those who commence life wealthy tend to continue being rich, and vice versa."

Relative Wealth Inequality

Although the wealth gap widening in absolute terms, the portion of total wealth in the UK held by the most affluent homes – known as "comparative financial divide" – has been "largely unchanged since the 1980s," according to the study.

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

Contributors of Wealth Inequality

Termed "automatic" appreciation, by means of increasing property values and adjustments to retirement fund assessments, were the primary factors of the expanding economic divide over the past decade, according to the study.

These appreciations generally flowed to older, property-owning households, the study demonstrates – exacerbating the intergenerational wealth divide.

Generational Economic Gaps

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 310 thousand pounds.

Regional Variations

Additionally, there were pronounced regional variations, with the median value of wealth in 2020-22 reaching £290,000 in the southeastern region, where real estate values have typically increased quickly, as opposed to £110k in the NE of England.

COVID Era Consequences

During the pandemic, when millions of workers were supported by the taxpayer-backed furlough scheme, and pandemic lockdowns curtailed consumption options, the data shows numerous families were able to save, increasing their wealth.

Wealthier families performed significantly better, nevertheless. "The typical family in the poorest fifth saw their available funds increase by just £80 during the COVID years (from 2019 to 2022), approximately equivalent to the pre-crisis period. In contrast, the median home in the wealthiest fifth saw their liquid savings grow by 4,200 pounds," the analysis concludes.