Substantial rise in wealth of Indian-origin adults in UK over past decade: Study

London, Jan 7 (PTI) Median wealth rose "substantially" for Indian-origin adults in the UK even as the wealth gap between ethnic groups in the country widened significantly over the past decade, new research by the London School of Economics (LSE) has revealed.

The LSE’s Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion study found that since 2012-14, wealth gains were concentrated among adults from the white British and Indian ethnic groups.

While adults in the Pakistani ethnic group experienced a “marked decline” in their wealth, gains for all ethnic groups across Britain were concentrated at the very top.

“Taken together, my findings underscore the cumulative disadvantages experienced by many individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds," said Dr Eleni Karagiannaki, LSE Assistant Professorial Research Fellow and author of the study released last month.

Her analysis found that while overall wealth has grown, the gains have been unevenly distributed across ethnic groups.

“Since 2012/14, median wealth gaps between ethnic groups have widened sharply, with gains concentrated among adults from the white British and Indian ethnic groups," the research concludes.

“Median wealth rose substantially for adults in these groups but remained close to zero for those in the Black African, Black Caribbean, and Bangladeshi groups, while adults in the Pakistani ethnic group experienced a marked decline," it notes.

The study also highlights that UK-born individuals from the Indian ethnic group “outperform” both first-generation peers and white British counterparts, while UK-born individuals from the Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Black Caribbean ethnic groups show “limited progress”.

Across all ethnic groups, including white British, wealth gains were disproportionately higher among those at the top, “widening inequality not only between but also within groups”.

This resulted in very different wealth mobility patterns, with upward mobility far less common among individuals from Black African and Black Caribbean ethnic groups, and some groups facing a greater risk of downward mobility from the top, such as people from Pakistani and Black African ethnic groups.

The report finds that homeownership and asset ownership, rather than the amount saved, have driven much of the widening wealth gap.

“Disparities in income early in life which intensify during middle age, combined with limited savings — largely due to lower earnings and competing financial pressures, and to a lesser extent differences in saving habits — and delayed access to homeownership, lead to marked differences over the course of people’s lives," said Karagiannaki.

“This highlights the importance of putting policies in place that boost earnings, expand saving capacity, and improve access to asset markets. These measures will help close the wealth accumulation gap and increase the financial resilience of individuals from the poorest groups in society,” she added.

The research was funded by the British Academy under a BA Innovation Fellowship Scheme. The analysis covered two stages: the first examining how ethnic wealth disparities changed between 2012/14 and 2021/23, and the second involving an age profile analysis of ethnic wealth gaps and ethnic gaps in wealth determinants. PTI AK ZH ZH