Every year The Equality Trust publishes a Wealth Tracker, calculating the cumulative increases in the wealth of the top 1,000 according to the Sunday Times Rich List. Last year those on the Rich List increased their total wealth to the staggering sum of £771.3  billion, which is significantly more than the wealth of the poorest 40% of households combined, on £567 billion. [1] As the Sunday Times prepares to publish the Rich List on Sunday 17th May, The Equality Trust will again be releasing its analysis.

Ahead of this, Dr Wanda Wyporska, Executive Director of The Equality Trust commented:

“The tragedy of COVID-19 has exposed even further, the deep and damaging inequality tearing apart our society. Decades of inequality have left millions in precarious jobs, in poverty and struggling to live a dignified life. 

“Celebrating excessive wealth in this way is like holding a five course banquet in a foodbank. It’s time for an end to this crass fawning over the excessively rich. Some of them have hypocritically gone begging to the Government for bailouts, pleading corporate poverty, whilst enjoying extreme personal wealth. This is tasteless at the best of times, but especially so in a time when we are seeing higher rates of death in more deprived areas, many are losing their jobs and the country is plunged into an economic disaster that goes far beyond any previous recession.”

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Notes for editors:

For interviews or further comment please email jo.wittams@equalitytrust.org.uk. www.equalitytrust.org.uk

The Equality Trust is the national charity that campaigns to improve quality of life in the UK by reducing economic and social inequality. The UK is one of the most unequal countries in the developed world and evidence shows that in countries with higher levels of inequality, we see higher rates of mental and physical ill health, higher rates of imprisonment and violent crime, worse educational outcomes and lower levels of trust. Inequality is not inevitable.

[1] The poorest 40% of households combined (£567 billion) – for figures, see: Statistical bulletin: Wealth in Great Britain Wave 5: 2014 to 2016 (Main results from the fifth wave of the Wealth and Assets Survey covering the period July 2014 to June 2016) – see Figure 5: Breakdown of aggregate total wealth, by deciles and components.