The average worker would need to save for 52 years to claw their way out of the middle class and be classified as wealthy, research reveals

The exact number of years of saving it would take for the average worker to claw out of the middle-class bracket has been revealed—and it’s nearly half a century.

Sobering research released in October 2025 from the think tank Resolution Foundation shows that for aspirational Brits looking to move up the wealth ladder, not even a lifetime of savings would be enough. 

In fact, the average worker would need to save their earnings for 52 years, to raise £1.3 million ($1.7 million), the amount needed to move from the middle and become as wealthy as the richest 10%.

And it gets worse: That’s with zero bills being paid.

“Wealth gaps in Britain are now so large that a typical full-time employee saving all their earnings across their entire working life would still not be able to reach the top of the wealth ladder,” wrote Molly Broome, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation and the lead author of the report.

And for those who happen to be born in the working class, the odds are increasingly stacked against........

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