The Equalizing of Wealth in Britain since the Second World War

Charles Feinstein

Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 1996, vol. 12, issue 1, 96-105

Abstract: The article examines long-run trends in the distribution of wealth. It shows that in the period from the late 1930s to the late 1970s there was an equalizing of the distribution on a striking and unprecedented scale, but that this was not subsequently sustained. For marketable net wealth the share of the top 1 percent has fallen to only one-fifth ofthe total in the late 1970s, compared to over half in the late 1930s and two-thirds before 1914. This had not simply been transferred to the next wealth groups: the shares owned by the top 5 and 10 percent have also fallen sharply. The downward trend is attributed to four factors: the direct and indirect effects of death duties; social changes in the patterns of wealth-holding and inheritance; the post-war accumulation of "popular wealth", notably houses; and changes in the relative price of assets. Copyright 1996 by Oxford University Press.

Date: 1996
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:oxford:v:12:y:1996:i:1:p:96-105

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