Where Britain's wealth divide has worsened

The gap has widened considerable in Wales, the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber.

Where Britain's wealth divide has worsened

Britain’s wealth gap has worsened in a number of areas since the financial crisis, analysis by the Resolution Foundation has found.

The gap has widened considerably in Wales, the East Midlands, the East of England and Yorkshire and the Humber.

Indeed, in the East Midlandslow-wealth households are 42% less wealthy than in 2006-08 in real terms.

London has the largest gap, with high-wealth Londoners having 24 times more than low-wealth households.

Conor D’Arcy, senior policy and research analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said: “When people think of wealth gaps and inequality in Britain, it’s often London that springs to mind.

“And though the capital is by far the most unequal region, there are big differences in wealth within every region and nation. These gaps matter, since wealth contributes to where families can live, how they deal with income shocks and the risks they can take.

“While household wealth overall has grown strongly in recent years and benefitted wealthier households across Britain, it has not fed through to lower wealth households in every region.

“In some parts of the country – including the East Midlands, East of England, Wales and Yorkshire – the gap between wealthy and poorer households has widened since the financial crisis.”

When calculating wealth Resolution Foundation took into account property, pensions, financial assets and possessions.

Overall household wealth has risen in Britain from £10.1 trillion to £12.8 trillion between 2006-8 and 2014-16 after adjusting for inflation.

But while that growth has benefitted wealthier households in every region except the North East it has not fed through to lower wealth families in half of British regions.

The wealth gap hasn’t worsened everywhere.

In Scotland, the South West, West Midlands and the South East the wealth gap has shrank since the financial crisis.