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Per new research, the average employee in the UK would have to work 52 years' worth of earnings to achieve the financial standing of the wealthiest 10% of the population.

Expanding Wealth Gap Through the Years

This research examined wealth distribution statistics including the Covid pandemic period and determined that back in 2006-08, it would have required 38 years' worth of typical employment income to enter the wealthiest decile of the financial hierarchy.

An economic expert part of the report commented: "Financial divides in Britain are currently so significant that a average worker saving all their earnings throughout their career would continue to be incapable to attain the highest level of the financial hierarchy."

Measuring the Economic Gap

The study discovered that the disparity between the wealth of the average person and an individual in the wealthiest decile was £1 million in the mid-2000s, but had expanded to 1.3 million pounds in actual value by 2020-22.

The researcher continued: "These disparities are particularly worrying as financial progression in Britain is restricted – people that start life wealthy tend to stay wealthy, and vice versa."

Proportional Economic Disparity

Although the financial disparity growing in actual numbers, the portion of overall assets in the UK owned by the most affluent homes – termed "proportional economic disparity" – has been "mostly consistent since the 1980s era," according to the study.

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

Drivers of Financial Divide

So-called "unearned" increases, via growing real estate costs and changes in pension valuations, were the key contributors of the expanding economic divide from 2010 onward, as stated in the analysis.

These increases typically went to older, property-owning households, the research shows – exacerbating the generational financial disparity.

Intergenerational Economic Gaps

The typical financial disparity between individuals aged 30-34 and sixty-somethings grew by more than 100% in inflation-adjusted terms, from £135k in the mid-2000s, to £310k.

Regional Differences

Furthermore, the study revealed significant geographic differences, with the average level of assets in the pandemic period standing at £290k in the SE of England, where property prices have generally grown substantially, as opposed to 110 thousand pounds in the NE of England.

COVID Era Consequences

During the pandemic, when numerous employees were protected by the public-funded employment protection, and Covid shutdowns curtailed consumption options, the data shows numerous families were capable of accumulating, enhancing their financial standing.

Wealthier families performed significantly better, though. "The median home in the bottom income bracket saw their cash reserves grow by only eighty pounds throughout the health crisis (2019-20 to 2021-22), broadly the same as the two years pre-pandemic. On the other hand, the average household in the highest income quintile saw their cash reserves grow by 4,200 pounds," the study reveals.