Wealth Gap in UK Multiplies Following Financial Crisis – Study

The gap in incomes between the United Kingdom's wealthiest and poorest households has widened greatly following the financial crisis, with the rich becoming over 60 percent richer, while the poor have seen their wealth more than halved, a study said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the Social Market Foundation's (SMF) findings, "those on the highest incomes are more secure today than those in the highest incomes before the downturn; but the opposite is true for those on the lowest incomes."

Median financial wealth among the UK's highest earning households increased by 64 percent between 2005 and 2012 —13, the study, entitled "Wealth in the Downturn: Winners and losers" shows.

Meanwhile, the lowest-income group has become less financially secure, with median financial wealth 57 percent lower than in 2005.

Young workers are also among the losers, the study found. Wages for 26-35 year-olds fell at a greater rate than the average in light of the crisis, and persons in this age group are considerably less likely to own a home now than 10 years ago.

The amount of indebtedness among young people has increased by more than 40 percent, while savings have fallen. "On average, they have less than one week's worth of income in savings," SMF said.

In general, UK households were poorly prepared into the financial crisis, according to the study.

The country's 2008-2009 recession, triggered by the global financial crisis, was the deepest since the Second World War.