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According to fresh study, the typical employee in the UK would need 52 years' worth of income to reach the net worth of the most affluent 10% of the population.

Widening Wealth Gap Across Decades

The analysis examined net worth statistics from the recent health crisis years and determined that back in the pre-financial crisis era, it would have taken nearly four decades of median full-time earnings to enter the wealthiest decile of the financial hierarchy.

A research lead part of the study stated: "Economic disparities in Britain are now so large that a typical full-time employee setting aside their entire income throughout their career would remain unable to attain the highest level of the financial hierarchy."

Quantifying the Wealth Divide

The study found that the gap between the wealth of the typical individual and a person belonging to the top 10% was £1m in 2006-08, but had increased to £1.3 million in real terms by the pandemic years.

The analyst continued: "These gaps are especially alarming as economic movement in Britain is limited – people that start life well-off tend to stay wealthy, and the opposite holds true."

Relative Wealth Inequality

Even with the financial disparity growing in specific figures, the percentage of complete net worth in the UK held by the wealthiest families – termed "relative wealth inequality" – has been "largely unchanged since the 1980s era," per the analysis.

During this period, overall assets in the UK increased dramatically from triple the gross domestic product, to almost 7.5 times.

Drivers of Economic Disparity

Termed "automatic" appreciation, through rising house prices and variations in retirement fund assessments, were the key contributors of the expanding economic divide since 2010, according to the report.

These gains typically went to elderly homeowners, the research shows – exacerbating the age-based economic gap.

Intergenerational Financial Divides

The average wealth gap between people in their early 30s and people aged 60-64 increased over twofold in actual value, from 135 thousand pounds in 2006-08, to £310,000.

Geographic Variations

There were also stark area-based disparities, with the average level of wealth in recent years reaching £290,000 in south-east England, where housing costs have tended to rise rapidly, as opposed to £110,000 in the north-east.

Pandemic Period Impact

Amid the health crisis, when countless laborers were supported by the taxpayer-backed furlough scheme, and pandemic lockdowns reduced expenditure possibilities, the data shows many households were in a position to set aside money, growing their net worth.

Higher-income households fared much better, nevertheless. "The typical family in the lowest-income quintile saw their liquid savings increase by just £80 over the pandemic period (2019-20 to 2021-22), approximately equivalent to the two years pre-pandemic. Conversely, the typical family in the wealthiest fifth saw their cash reserves grow by 4,200 pounds," the study reveals.