🔗 Share this article Entire Career of Earnings Not Enough for UK Workers to Join Most Affluent 10%, Report Finds Based on new study, the average employee in the UK would need half a century of salary to attain the financial standing of the wealthiest 10% in the country. Widening Financial Divide Through the Years The study examined net worth information including the Covid pandemic period and determined that back in the mid-2000s, it would have taken 38 years' worth of median full-time earnings to join the top 10th of the wealth distribution. A research lead part of the report stated: "Wealth gaps in Britain are currently so significant that a regular employee saving all their earnings throughout their career would continue to be incapable to achieve the peak of the economic scale." Assessing the Wealth Divide The study found that the difference between the wealth of the average person and someone in the richest segment was one million pounds in the mid-2000s, but had widened to £1.3 million in real terms by the pandemic years. The economist continued: "These gaps are especially alarming as economic movement in Britain is limited – people that start life well-off tend to remain affluent, and the opposite holds true." Comparative Financial Divide Even with the financial disparity widening in actual numbers, the portion of overall assets in the UK possessed by the wealthiest families – called "comparative financial divide" – has been "largely unchanged since the 1980s," per the research. Over this timeframe, total wealth in the UK surged from three times the annual GDP, to nearly seven and a half times. Drivers of Financial Divide So-called "automatic" gains, via increasing property values and changes in retirement fund assessments, were the primary factors of the growing financial disparity from 2010 onward, as stated in the report. These appreciations typically went to elderly homeowners, the research shows – exacerbating the intergenerational wealth divide. Age-Based Wealth Disparities The typical financial disparity between individuals aged 30-34 and people aged 60-64 grew by more than 100% in actual value, from 135 thousand pounds in the mid-2000s, to £310k. Regional Disparities Additionally, there were significant regional variations, with the typical amount of net worth in 2020-22 reaching 290 thousand pounds in south-east England, where housing costs have generally grown substantially, as opposed to 110 thousand pounds in the northeastern region. Pandemic Period Consequences Throughout the COVID period, when numerous employees were supported by the government-supported job retention program, and health crisis restrictions limited opportunities for spending, the statistics indicate countless homes were in a position to set aside money, growing their net worth. Higher-income households performed significantly better, though. "The average household in the bottom income bracket saw their cash reserves rise by merely £80 over the pandemic period (2019-20 to 2021-22), roughly identical to the pre-crisis period. On the other hand, the average household in the highest income quintile saw their cash reserves rise by £4,200," the report finds.