Ryan FowlerNew analysis from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has revealed that the top 10% of households in the UK hold more financial wealth than the other 90% combined. The figures, based on the latest household wealth data, also show that one in five households have negative net financial wealth, meaning their debts outweigh any financial assets.
The TUC says this deep inequality underscores the urgent need for an economic reset, including measures to tackle insecure work and deliver fairer wages.
Under Conservative governments from 2010 to 2024, real wages grew by just 0.3% annually, compared to 1.5% between 1997 and 2010. The TUC estimates that the average worker would be £117 a week better off if wage growth had continued at the pre-2010 rate.
This period also saw a sharp increase in insecure work, with the number of people in precarious jobs rising by 1 million between 2011 and 2023 to a total of 4.1 million.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “We need an economy that delivers better living standards and security for all – not just those at the top. Under the Conservatives, the wealthiest feathered their nests while working people suffered an epidemic of insecure work and the worst pay crisis in two centuries.
“And many households have struggled to save anything at all. That’s not right.
“It’s time to move away from the broken economic model which saw insecure work explode and living standards squeezed. That’s why the Government’s Employment Rights Bill is so important – it will help deliver the economic reset working people desperately need.”
