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Per new analysis, the typical worker in the UK would have to work half a century of income to achieve the net worth of the most affluent 10% in the country.

Growing Economic Disparity Over Time

The analysis analyzed financial assets statistics covering the recent health crisis years and found that in the pre-financial crisis era, it would have required nearly four decades of average worker salary to join the richest segment of the economic ladder.

A research lead associated with the analysis commented: "Wealth gaps in Britain are presently so substantial that a regular employee saving all their earnings across their entire working life would remain unable to attain the highest level of the financial hierarchy."

Quantifying the Wealth Divide

The analysis discovered that the disparity between the net worth of the median citizen and someone in the top 10% was £1 million in the mid-2000s, but had increased to £1.3m in actual value by recent times.

The researcher continued: "These differences are especially alarming as economic movement in Britain is low – individuals who begin life wealthy tend to continue being rich, and the opposite holds true."

Relative Wealth Inequality

Despite the financial disparity expanding in specific figures, the share of total wealth in the UK owned by the most affluent homes – known as "proportional economic disparity" – has been "mostly consistent since the 1980s era," per the research.

During this period, total wealth in the UK surged from thrice the yearly economic output, to almost 7.5 times.

Contributors of Financial Divide

Termed "automatic" increases, via increasing property values and changes in pension valuations, were the key contributors of the expanding economic divide over the past decade, as stated in the study.

These gains generally flowed to elderly homeowners, the analysis reveals – worsening the intergenerational wealth divide.

Intergenerational Wealth Disparities

The median economic difference between individuals aged 30-34 and people aged 60-64 more than doubled in inflation-adjusted terms, from £135,000 in pre-financial crisis, to 310 thousand pounds.

Geographic Disparities

There were also stark area-based disparities, with the average level of net worth in 2020-22 amounting to 290 thousand pounds in the southeastern region, where property prices have tended to rise rapidly, compared with £110,000 in the NE of England.

Pandemic Period Impact

During the pandemic, when millions of workers were supported by the taxpayer-backed furlough scheme, and pandemic lockdowns reduced expenditure possibilities, the data shows many households were capable of accumulating, growing their net worth.

Higher-income households achieved superior outcomes, though. "The median home in the bottom income bracket saw their cash reserves increase by just £80 during the COVID years (2019-20 to 2021-22), approximately equivalent to the two years pre-pandemic. On the other hand, the typical family in the highest income quintile saw their available funds increase by £4,200," the analysis concludes.