As the UK’s Financial Times has pointed out, median household net wealth in the UK, US, Germany and France has nearly doubled since the mid-1990s, while median wages are said to have increased by only approximately 30%. In Japan, reports citing Nomura Research Institute say that the number of ordinary salaried employees with assets exceeding ¥100 million, described as “overnight affluent,” is increasing.
The FT compares the UK, US, Germany and France and points to the divergence between wage and wealth growth. In some periods, wealth growth is said to have outpaced wage growth.
In Japan, reports have cited an increase in affluent households with financial assets of ¥100 million or more as a result of long-term asset management. Such cases are sometimes described as people becoming “overnight affluent.”
According to the FT, the share of assets held by the top 1% of affluent households in Europe and the US has changed little over the past 15 years.
Examples are cited in which asset prices have risen faster than wages, leading to the view that building wealth has become more difficult for salaried employees.