Scottish haves and have-nots

The gap between rich and poor in Scotland is widening with the wealthy getting wealthier while the poor get poorer.

The wealthiest 1 per cent alone owned more wealth than the bottom 50 per cent.

In contrast, the least wealthy 50 per cent of households owned just nine per cant of all private wealth – the equivalent of £76.9bn. 

The wealthiest 10 per cent of households owned 43 per cent of all private net wealth – the equivalent of £374 billion.

Broken down further, the wealthiest 10 per cent own:

67 per cent of financial wealth, 

54 per cent of private pension wealth, 43 per cent of property wealth

34 per cent of physical wealth – defined as the value of household goods such as computers, televisions, jewellery, collectables and vehicles.

The least wealthy half of households own:

 less than 2 per cent of financial wealth, 2 per cent of private pension wealth, 

5 per cent of property wealth; 

18 per cent of physical wealth.

The inequality gap between rich and poor has increased in recent years. In 2012/14 the wealthiest 10 per cent owned 9.4 times more household wealth than the bottom 40 per cent – an increase from 8.8 in 2010/12.

Last month a Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health report said Scotland had one of the worst children’s health records in Western Europe with more than 210,000 children living in poverty.

An international Pisa study showed Scotland was slipping down the global league tables when it came to maths, reading and science. Further analysis of the same data suggested bright children from poor backgrounds in Scotland lag behind their wealthy classmates by more than two and a half years by the time they reach 15.