|
"working wealthy" do not think they are wealthy |
|
|
|
Wednesday, 30 January 2008 |
Are you one of those poor souls in a family that earns £88,000 or more a year? On average, you struggle to take two foreign holidays a year when not squeezed in a hovel worth more than £390,000 and get by on £20,000-plus of disposable cash annually. But you don't feel rich at all, according to a survey by the insurance company Hiscox.
You may drive an Audi and shop at Waitrose but 90% of the so-called "working wealthy" do not think they are wealthy. The Hiscox study found that people would need to earn more like £150,000 per household, have paid off their mortgage, own more than one property and send their children to private school before considering themselves to be "well off".
Our perceptions of wealth are relative, but it seems we only ever gaze up enviously at those who are far richer than us. So here are a few statistics to bring you back down to the planet most Britons live on:
· If your household pulls in £88,000, you earn nearly triple the average household income of £32,779 and nine out of ten households are poorer than you.
· There are 2.48m households in this top 10% bracket but more than 13m in "low-income" households, classified as earning 60% or less of median income.
· The average weekly earnings for full-time employees was £457 in 2007. Earn that every week and you are pulling in £23,764 a year, before tax.
· The average house price in England and Wales is £189,009, according to the Land Registry.
· The average household spends £58 a week on recreation and culture, forking out just over £3,000 a year for all their leisure activities, including holidays, computers, books and TVs.
· Just over one in five households (22%) have access to two cars but more than one in four households (27%) do not have use of a car at all.
· In global terms, the working wealthy look even more affluent. If your income exceeds £13,650 a year (a princely £6.56 an hour for a 40-hour week) you are among the world's top 10% of earners.
Recommend this article...
Views: 743
Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.2 |
|
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 19 February 2008 )
|
