The top 10% of UK households own more than half of the wealth.
Watch how this inequality has grown since 1970 — and what we can do about it.
68 million people • £15 trillion total wealth
In 2024: 6.8m people owned £8.6tn
While 61.2m owned £6.4tn
After World War II, Britain built something remarkable: an economy that worked for everyone.
Wages rose in lockstep with productivity. A single income could buy a house, raise a family, and save for retirement. The gap between rich and poor was at its narrowest in modern history.
This wasn't an accident. It was the result of deliberate policy choices.
In 1971, President Nixon ended the gold standard. Money was no longer tied to anything physical. This single decision would reshape the global economy.
Through the 1980s and 90s, the rules changed. Financial deregulation. Tax cuts for the wealthy. Union power dismantled. The social contract that built the post-war prosperity was torn up.
"The Great Divergence began. Productivity kept rising, but wages flatlined. The wealth we created together started flowing to the top."
By 2008, the stage was set for the greatest wealth transfer in modern history.
When the banks collapsed in 2008, governments had a choice. They chose to save the financial system by printing money — lots of it.
Quantitative Easing (QE): The Bank of England created £445 billion out of thin air. But this money didn't go to workers or public services.
The newly created money went to buy government bonds from wealthy investors.
Those investors took that cash and bought assets: property, stocks, bonds. Asset prices soared. The rich got richer. Everyone else got left behind.
The rescue that made inequality worse.
When COVID-19 hit, central banks printed money on an unprecedented scale. £450 billion more in the UK alone.
Once again, this money flowed to asset owners. House prices surged 25% in just three years. Billionaire wealth exploded. Meanwhile, real wages fell as inflation ate away at paychecks.
The biggest wealth transfer in modern history
In just four years (2020-2024), the wealth gap widened more than in the previous two decades combined.
This wasn't a natural disaster. It was a policy choice.
Understanding the mechanism is key. This isn't about individual greed — it's about how the system is designed.
Central banks create money and use it to buy bonds from wealthy investors. Those investors now have cash to spend.
With nowhere else to put it, that cash floods into assets: houses, stocks, land. More money chasing the same assets = prices rise.
Asset owners get richer. They buy more assets. Prices rise further. Those without assets fall further behind. The gap widens exponentially.
"If you don't own assets, you're not just standing still — you're falling behind. Every year, the gap gets wider."
— Gary Stevenson, former trader
Behind the statistics are real people. Real lives affected by these abstract economic forces.
Your grandparents needed 3 years to save for a house.
You need 22 years.
That's not because you're not working hard enough.
A generation locked out of homeownership. Families choosing between heating and eating. Social mobility in reverse.
This isn't just about money. It's about opportunity, security, and the kind of society we want to be.
The problem is clear. The solution is simple: tax wealth, not just income.
A modest wealth tax on the richest 0.5% could raise £10-15 billion per year. Enough to transform our society.
Wealth taxes aren't theoretical. They're working right now in multiple countries.
Wealth tax since 1892
1.1% tax on net wealth above ~£150,000. Raises significant revenue while maintaining one of the world's highest living standards.
Cantonal wealth taxes
Progressive wealth taxes at cantonal level. Rates vary by canton, averaging 0.3-1%. No mass exodus of wealthy residents.
Wealth tax reinstated 2021
Progressive rates from 0.2% to 3.5% on wealth above €700,000. Helps fund public services without economic collapse.
Data from these countries shows minimal emigration of wealthy individuals. People don't abandon their homes, families, and networks over modest taxes.
In Norway, fewer than 0.1% of wealth tax payers emigrate annually — lower than the general population migration rate.
Wealth inequality isn't inevitable. It's a choice. And we can choose differently.
Help others understand what's happening and why it matters.
Support groups campaigning for economic justice.
Support candidates who back wealth taxation and economic justice.
Make it an election issue
The choice is ours
We can continue down this path of ever-widening inequality, or we can choose a fairer system that works for everyone.
The research is done. The solutions exist. The time to act is now.
Created by Jimmy
Data sources: World Inequality Database, ONS, Bank of England, OECD