One in five university graduates are asset millionaires
16/05/2014
One in five people who have graduated from University have a net wealth of at least £1 million – taking into account property, pensions, savings and physical objects.
In stark contrast, the ONS report shows that only 3% of people without a university degree have a net wealth worth of more than £1 million.
Whilst the number of asset millionaires has risen by 50% over the last four years, the wealth gap between university educated and non-university educated people appears to have grown.
In the 2006-07 tax year only 16% of university graduates had assets totalling £1 million, in comparison with 2% of non-university graduates.
In total, nearly 10% of people in the UK have a net wealth of over £1 million.
‘Going to university is a very good deal’
David Willets, the Universities Minister said the figures were “more evidence of why going to university is a very good deal”.
He also continued to say that the figures justify rising tuition fees, whilst still pushing school-leavers to go to university.
He said: “It shows why it’s fair to ask graduates to pay back the cost of their higher education, and why increasing the number of people who go to university will spread wealth and opportunity.”
Growing gap between the rich and poor
However, the report also showed that there is an increasing gap between the rich and poor under the current coalition government.
The richest 10% of households now own 44% of the UK’s total wealth, whilst the poorest 50% of the nation own only 9% of the wealth.
The report explained that wealth does tend to increase across the entire spectrum of rich and poor as time goes on, but the rate at which wealth increases is not necessarily the same.
The data showed that asset millionaires accounted for 6% of the population in 2006-08 rising to 9% in 2010-2012. The poorest households also experienced an increase in wealth during this time, as the number of households with assets worth less than £12,500 decreased from 12% to 10%.
The data also exposed a regional gap in terms of wealth growth over time. For example, in London the average wealth rose by 31% between the periods of 2006-08 and 2010-12, compared with an average of 11% across the rest of England.
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