🔗 Share this article Working Life of Income Not Enough for UK Workers to Join Most Affluent 10%, Study Reveals According to new research, the typical employee in the UK would have to work half a century of income to reach the net worth of the richest 10% of the population. Expanding Economic Disparity Across Decades The analysis examined net worth data including the Covid pandemic period and found that during 2006-08, it would have required 38 years of average worker salary to reach the top 10th of the financial hierarchy. A senior economist part of the report commented: "Financial divides in Britain are currently so significant that a typical full-time employee accumulating their complete salary throughout their career would still not be able to attain the highest level of the wealth ladder." Assessing the Financial Disparity The research found that the difference between the assets of the median citizen and a person belonging to the wealthiest decile was one million pounds in the pre-crisis period, but had increased to £1.3m in actual value by recent times. The economist added: "These differences are especially alarming as wealth mobility in Britain is limited – people that start life affluent tend to remain affluent, and conversely applies." Relative Wealth Inequality Even with the financial disparity expanding in actual numbers, the percentage of overall assets in the UK possessed by the wealthiest families – known as "comparative financial divide" – has been "broadly stable since the eighties," as stated in the study. Over this timeframe, complete net worth in the UK rose substantially from three times the yearly economic output, to almost 7.5 times. Contributors of Economic Disparity Referred to as "automatic" increases, via increasing property values and adjustments to retirement fund assessments, were the main drivers of the growing financial disparity since 2010, as stated in the report. These increases typically went to elderly homeowners, the study demonstrates – exacerbating the age-based economic gap. Generational Economic Gaps The typical financial disparity between people in their early 30s and those in their early 60s grew by more than 100% in real terms, from £135,000 in pre-financial crisis, to £310,000. Regional Differences Furthermore, the study revealed stark geographic differences, with the median value of assets in 2020-22 reaching £290k in south-east England, where housing costs have generally grown substantially, as opposed to £110,000 in the NE of England. Health Crisis Years Effects Amid the health crisis, when numerous employees were protected by the taxpayer-backed furlough scheme, and pandemic lockdowns curtailed consumption options, the information reveals numerous families were capable of accumulating, growing their net worth. Wealthier families fared much better, though. "The typical family in the poorest fifth saw their cash reserves increase by just £80 over the pandemic period (2019-20 to 2021-22), roughly identical to the 24 months before COVID. On the other hand, the typical family in the wealthiest fifth saw their available funds grow by 4,200 pounds," the study reveals.