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Based on new research, the median earner in the UK would require 52 years' worth of earnings to achieve the net worth of the richest 10% in the country.

Growing Financial Divide Across Decades

This research analyzed net worth statistics covering the 2020-22 timeframe and found that during the pre-financial crisis era, it would have needed nearly four decades of average worker salary to enter the richest segment of the wealth distribution.

A senior economist associated with the analysis commented: "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 achieve the peak of the financial hierarchy."

Assessing the Economic Gap

The research discovered that the disparity between the net worth of the average person and a person belonging to the wealthiest decile was £1m in 2006-08, but had increased to 1.3 million pounds in inflation-adjusted terms by the pandemic years.

The economist added: "These gaps are particularly worrying as financial progression in Britain is restricted – people that start life well-off tend to stay wealthy, and vice versa."

Comparative Financial Divide

Even with the financial disparity widening in actual numbers, the share of overall assets in the UK possessed by the most affluent homes – known as "proportional economic disparity" – has been "broadly stable since the 1980s," as stated in the study.

During this period, total wealth in the UK increased dramatically from triple the annual GDP, to almost 7.5 times.

Drivers of Financial Divide

So-called "unearned" appreciation, by means of rising house prices and adjustments to retirement fund assessments, were the primary factors of the growing financial disparity over the past decade, per the analysis.

These gains generally flowed to older, property-owning households, the study demonstrates – intensifying the generational financial disparity.

Intergenerational Economic Gaps

The median economic difference between individuals aged 30-34 and people aged 60-64 increased over twofold in actual value, from 135 thousand pounds in 2006-08, to 310 thousand pounds.

Regional Variations

Additionally, there were stark regional variations, with the average level of wealth in the pandemic period amounting to £290k in the southeastern region, where property prices have typically increased quickly, compared with £110,000 in the north-east.

Health Crisis Years Consequences

During the pandemic, when millions of workers were covered under the public-funded employment protection, and Covid shutdowns limited opportunities for spending, the data shows numerous families were capable of accumulating, enhancing their financial standing.

Wealthier families achieved superior outcomes, nevertheless. "The average household in the bottom income bracket saw their liquid savings rise by merely £80 during the COVID years (2019-20 to 2021-22), approximately equivalent to the 24 months before COVID. In contrast, the average household in the highest income quintile saw their liquid savings increase by £4,200," the report finds.