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Per new study, the average worker in the UK would have to work 52 years' worth of salary to reach the financial standing of the richest 10% nationwide.

Expanding Economic Disparity Over Time

This research analyzed net worth statistics from the Covid pandemic period and found that during 2006-08, it would have taken 38 years' worth of median full-time earnings to reach the wealthiest decile of the economic ladder.

An economic expert part of the report stated: "Financial divides in Britain are currently so significant that a average worker setting aside their entire income during their working years would continue to be incapable to reach the top of the economic scale."

Quantifying the Wealth Divide

The analysis found that the disparity between the net worth of the median citizen and someone in the wealthiest decile was £1 million in the mid-2000s, but had widened to 1.3 million pounds in inflation-adjusted terms by recent times.

The researcher continued: "These gaps are doubly concerning as financial progression in Britain is low – those who commence life affluent tend to stay wealthy, and vice versa."

Relative Wealth Inequality

Even with the wealth gap expanding in actual numbers, the portion of total wealth in the UK held by the wealthiest families – known as "relative wealth inequality" – has been "largely unchanged since the 1980s," per the study.

Over this timeframe, complete net worth in the UK surged from three times the annual GDP, to approximately 7.5x.

Drivers of Financial Divide

Referred to as "automatic" increases, via increasing property values and adjustments to superannuation evaluations, were the primary factors of the growing financial disparity from 2010 onward, according to the analysis.

These gains typically went to senior citizens with real estate, the analysis reveals – exacerbating the intergenerational wealth divide.

Intergenerational Economic Gaps

The typical financial disparity between individuals aged 30-34 and people aged 60-64 increased over twofold in actual value, from £135k in the mid-2000s, to 310 thousand pounds.

Area-Based Variations

Additionally, there were stark geographic differences, with the average level of assets in recent years standing at 290 thousand pounds in the SE of England, where property prices have tended to rise rapidly, compared with 110 thousand pounds in the northeastern region.

Health Crisis Years Effects

Throughout the COVID period, when millions of workers were supported by the taxpayer-backed furlough scheme, and Covid shutdowns reduced expenditure possibilities, the information reveals many households were able to save, growing their net worth.

Higher-income households performed significantly better, though. "The median home in the lowest-income quintile saw their available funds increase by just £80 throughout the health crisis (across the pandemic timeframe), approximately equivalent to the 24 months before COVID. Conversely, the median home in the top income bracket saw their liquid savings rise by £4,200," the report finds.