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Based on new analysis, the average earner in the UK would require over five decades of income to achieve the financial standing of the richest 10% of the population.

Widening Economic Disparity Across Decades

This research analyzed wealth distribution data including the 2020-22 timeframe and discovered that during 2006-08, it would have needed 38 years of median full-time earnings to enter the top 10th of the economic ladder.

A senior economist associated with the report observed: "Financial divides in Britain are presently so substantial that a average worker saving all their earnings across their entire working life would remain unable to reach the top of the financial hierarchy."

Assessing the Financial Disparity

The study found that the disparity between the assets of the median citizen and a person belonging to the wealthiest decile was one million pounds in 2006-08, but had widened to £1.3m in inflation-adjusted terms by the pandemic years.

The researcher added: "These differences are especially alarming as economic movement in Britain is limited – individuals who begin life affluent tend to remain affluent, and vice versa."

Comparative Financial Divide

Although the wealth gap widening in specific figures, the percentage of total wealth in the UK held by the wealthiest families – known as "comparative financial divide" – has been "broadly stable since the 1980s era," according to the research.

Throughout these years, complete net worth in the UK surged from three times the annual GDP, to approximately 7.5x.

Drivers of Financial Divide

Termed "automatic" gains, through growing real estate costs and adjustments to retirement fund assessments, were the primary factors of the growing financial disparity from 2010 onward, per the analysis.

These increases typically went to senior citizens with real estate, the study demonstrates – exacerbating the intergenerational wealth divide.

Intergenerational Wealth Disparities

The average wealth gap between individuals aged 30-34 and people aged 60-64 grew by more than 100% in inflation-adjusted terms, from £135,000 in the mid-2000s, to 310 thousand pounds.

Area-Based Disparities

There were also pronounced regional variations, with the median value of net worth in recent years amounting to £290,000 in the SE of England, where housing costs have typically increased quickly, versus £110k in the north-east.

COVID Era Consequences

Amid the health crisis, when millions of workers were supported by the public-funded employment protection, and Covid shutdowns limited opportunities for spending, the statistics indicate countless homes were in a position to set aside money, enhancing their financial standing.

Higher-income households achieved superior outcomes, however. "The median home in the bottom income bracket saw their liquid savings increase by just £80 throughout the health crisis (across the pandemic timeframe), broadly the same as the 24 months before COVID. In contrast, the median home in the highest income quintile saw their available funds increase by £4,200," the analysis concludes.