Mind the gap: Britain's richest are 105 times better off than the poorest
New analysis from Lloyds Bank Private Banking revealed that if the combined household wealth was evenly distributed, each family in Britain would have an annual income of £326,414.
But in spite of a rise in household wealth of more than £216,000 in the past 10 years, the increased prosperity appears to remain in the hands of "" according to Markus Stadlmann, chief investment officer of Lloyds Bank Private Banking.
The analysis shows that individuals, who own property or have invested in pension schemes, have also seen a rise in the level of their personal wealth.
Property has seen the greatest increase in value, with the average house price rising by nine percent in 2014, adding £452 billion to the combined household wealth total.
As well as property, which accounts for 39 percent of total wealth, other assets such as pension pots and life assurance have doubled since 2004, and are now worth £5.5 trillion, or 61 percent of the UK's total wealth.
These encouraging figures, however, don't show the distribution of the UK's increasing wealth. The Equity Trust says 34 percent of the population control the lion's share of the £9.1 trillion, leaving 60 percent without any positive financial assets.
They further say the current trend is creating an almost impossible housing situation for young people, who are constantly priced out of the market by the older generation.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show a huge disparity between the numbers of young people owning a home - just 40 percent of 24-34 year olds - and their parents, of which nearly 75 percent are home-owners.
Professor John Hills, director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion, noted that the current younger generation would have to save £33 every day for the next 30 years in order catch up with their parents.
he told the Independent.
" he added.
Founder of the Intergenerational Foundation Ashley Seager also said the current trend was "the largest transfer of wealth from young to old in history."
"It raises the question as to how the government can continue to justify the protection of pensioner perks when they state that £12 billion of welfare savings are still needed."
Comment: Last month, a study was published in the - "Austerity, sanctions, and the rise of food banks in the UK,". The authors, academics from Oxford University, noted that the harsh austerity measures (introduced by the then coalition government) including slashed welfare payments and dwindling public services have caused the rapid spread of food banks across Britain.
Conservative politicians suggested that the trend was not 'symptomatic of growing food insecurity', but was a 'direct result of food charities broadening their operations' and that those who espouse this view say 'more people are merely helping themselves to free food'.When the coalition government came to power in 2010, the Trussell Trust food banks were active in 29 local council areas throughout Britain, according to the report. By 2013/14, however, this number had risen to 251.
Over the same period, the Trussell Trust's rate of emergency food aid distribution had tripled.
In a joint report published late 2014, the Trussell Trust, the Church of England, Oxfam and the Child Poverty Action Group revealed that those who use food banks are more likely to be "single adults or single parents, live in rented accommodation, suffer unemployment and have borne the brunt of some sort of benefits sanction."
Clearly, despite the pro-austerity rhetoric from Westminster, we are not "all in this together". Having won the recent General Election, the Conservative Party is committed to implementing their manifesto pledge to cut £12bn from welfare, which according to the Oxford report would result in the number of people using food banks to "double to more than two million a year".
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