Growth of inequality hits youngest the hardest

The richest 10 per cent of British households have five times the wealth of the bottom 50 per cent and inequality is growing with young people hit the hardest, an influential thinktank has found.

The IPPR said half of British households have an average of £3,200 in net property, pension and financial wealth, while the top 10 per cent hold an average of £1.32 million.

The study shows every generation since the post-war baby boomers accumulated less wealth than those before at the same age, with people born in the 1980s owning just a third of the property wealth at age 28 of those born in the 1970s.

Amid reports Chancellor Philip Hammond could use next month’s Budget to tackle “intergenerational unfairness” by raiding pensioners to pay for measures to help young people, polling for the think-tank suggested he would be right to prioritise the issue.

The Yougov polling for IPPR found that 80 per cent of respondents think 18to 24-year-olds will have more debt that older generations, 74 per cent thought they would have less savings and investments, and 72 per cent thought they would have less housing wealth.