Moving Beyond the Gender Wealth Gap: On Gender, Class, Ethnicity, and Wealth Inequalities in the United Kingdom

Abstract This article is concerned with the impact of gender, class, and ethnic divisions on inequities in wealth accumulation in the United Kingdom. First, it provides an analysis, based on a sub-sample of individuals aged 18 to 59 in the Family Resources Survey, of the distribution of individual-level pension wealth to gauge the size of the gender wealth gap. It then moves on to family-level wealth to show not only how class and ethnically related wealth inequalities can cut across this gendered picture, but also how other key variables such as income and life stage can impact wealth accumulation. Researching gender differences in wealth through methods such as these is vital because it enables us to explore the long-term buildup of gendered economic disadvantage, but one also must pay attention to other social divisions, alongside gender, to develop a fuller understanding of societal economic advantage and disadvantage.