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According to new analysis, the average earner in the UK would have to work 52 years' worth of earnings to attain the wealth level of the richest 10% of the population.

Expanding Financial Divide Across Decades

The study analyzed net worth statistics covering the Covid pandemic period and found that during the pre-financial crisis era, it would have required 38 years' worth of median full-time earnings to reach the wealthiest decile of the financial hierarchy.

A senior economist part of the report commented: "Financial divides in Britain are now so large that a average worker accumulating their complete salary across their entire working life would still not be able to achieve the peak of the wealth ladder."

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 one million pounds in the mid-2000s, but had widened to £1.3m in actual value by recent times.

The analyst further stated: "These disparities are doubly concerning as financial progression in Britain is limited – people that start life affluent tend to stay wealthy, and the opposite holds true."

Relative Wealth Inequality

Even with the wealth gap widening in absolute terms, the percentage of complete net worth in the UK owned by the richest households – known as "relative wealth inequality" – has been "largely unchanged since the eighties," per the study.

During this period, overall assets in the UK surged from triple the yearly economic output, to nearly seven and a half times.

Factors of Financial Divide

Referred to as "unearned" appreciation, via rising house prices and changes in superannuation evaluations, were the primary factors of the widening wealth gap from 2010 onward, per the report.

These gains tended to accrue to elderly homeowners, the research shows – worsening the intergenerational wealth divide.

Generational Wealth Disparities

The average wealth gap between individuals aged 30-34 and sixty-somethings grew by more than 100% in real terms, from £135,000 in 2006-08, to £310,000.

Regional Disparities

Furthermore, the study revealed stark area-based disparities, 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.

Pandemic Period Effects

During the pandemic, when millions of workers were covered under the government-supported job retention program, and health crisis restrictions reduced expenditure possibilities, the statistics indicate countless homes were able to save, increasing their wealth.

More affluent homes achieved superior outcomes, however. "The typical family in the lowest-income quintile saw their available funds rise by merely £80 over the pandemic period (across the pandemic timeframe), approximately equivalent to the 24 months before COVID. Conversely, the typical family in the wealthiest fifth saw their liquid savings grow by 4,200 pounds," the study reveals.