If all the wealth in the UK were split evenly amongst inhabitants...

[eurasa]

Where would we all sit?

If the assets/money of the 68 million inhabitants were collated and split between us all (for arguments sake let's say adults only, but trying not to get into the tiny specific semantics here), how much would we all get?

There are so many people with no assets and living in poverty, but then there are a number of people with such outrageous wealth.

I guess I'm asking where the mean would come out at.

(Just following a conversation between DH and I, who don't know economics enough to make a good suggestion! Not a journalist!)

Here’s a similar one. If Elon Musk liquidated all his assets, shares and investments (estimated at $190b) and turned them into cash, he could give every person on the planet roughly $23.

Right, I've read the link properly from earlier.
£300,000 median per household.
If we assume an average household has 2 adults, that's £150,000 per adult.

Then, I found this which suggests 13,000,000 total wealth in 2019.
Between 67,000,000 population (including kids) is just under 200,000 each.

If it was adults only, as in OP's original question, I'd say about 250k each. That would be amazing! (I know it isn't really going to happen, just fun to think about). That's going on a sum of 13 tn, divided by roughly 53million adults - from 2021 population figures.

Capitalism isn’t great but it’s the best system we have found so far, especially if it isn’t out of control and properly regulated.

The problem with this idea is that sadly most people will not be motivated to work as hard for the common good as they would for themselves.

The thing is - £250k is tiny. Won't buy a decent family house in most parts of the country. Won't fund a decent income in retirement for most people. It's simply not enough.

To have a minimal, but reasonable standard of living in your final years, you need around £750k. Half in property, half in a pension fund. And that's what the total wealth of the country actually is. Property and Pensions.

Thanks for those who understood that this was a thought experiment, and not me suggesting that communism is the way forward 😂 whilst I personally would benefit from this situation (come from no money but am likely to end up achieving ok, and would probably use my 'share' cleverly) I do understand that it wouldn't work!

Seems like the answer lays somewhere in the £200-300k per adult or possibly per household which is interesting, as in many places that wouldn't buy a bog standard house (although if this did occur I suspect the value of property would be very different!)

Some people would be wise with it and some people would just let it trickle through their fingers. It’s the way of the world. Some people are just useless with money/budgeting. (This isn’t an attack on people living in poverty. I’m not implying that they’re in that position because they’re useless with money. There’s plenty of wealthy people who are reckless with spending and unable to budget).

300k isn’t massive

im guessing wealth is defined as assets including house equity and pensions. A lot of people with a defined benefits pension don’t really appreciate its value. A 15k a year pension for example would be valued at around 300k

You'd have to keep in mind that you are counting all the assets as well as the cash . Would everyone's house have to be sold, so everyone would have an equal share of the wealth ? And who would purchase them ?

Personally I think it would lead to chaos. The idea didn't work well for the Communists and it wouldn't work well in this scenario. After a short time, some people would have accrued heaps again, and some would have lost the lot. Back to Square One.

Thus may be true, but it’s the same with communism. The USSR had a lot of ambitious project and turned a whole sea into desert.

it’s human nature, not just a capitalist or communist trait.

You have spectacularly missed the point.

Well done and congrats on extrapolating nonsense from no facts or previous argument 😂

Just for your info- the country can collapse all by itself 😃😃😃

My house is worth £400K. Do I have to give half of it to someone else.

Or does the fact that I share with DH and 2 kids means I get 2 houses?

It also doesn't work because of corruption. No one believes that any leaders in these countries live like the hoi polloi. Once someone is in power they always become like the people they overthrew. Putin lives like a billionaire, as I'm sure the leaders of the communist party in China do too.

However, I'd definitely like more equality. It's wrong when people who are already richer than most of us can imagine, then don't want to pay their taxes or keep putting up their already enormous salaries.

😂😂😂 at posters who don’t understand what a thought experiment is.

It goes to show how over inflated the price of our housing stock is.

If everyone had 300k equally, houses wouldn't cost as much.

Cost of housing is driven up by investors, landlords, business people buying up lots of property. Not sure about the UK but in the US there are more empty homes than homeless people. It's not a supply issue it's a greed issue.

There are certainly more second homes than there are homeless people in the UK.

Interesting question OP. £300k doesn't seem that much but if everyone had it it would feel like more.

I hate the 'worked hard' bollocks. In my 50+ years of life, I've know plenty of very rich people and even more very poor people and I know who works harder, it's NOT the rich.

This blog from the London School of Economics puts some numbers around this
blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/official-statistics-underestimate-wealth-inequality/#:~:text=Total%20wealth%20is%20underestimated,%C2%A3402%2C100%20to%20%C2%A3564%2C300.

I think most posters realise that this is a thought experiment; but instead of just playing with the concept of 'what would it be if we did this' they have instead considered the idea of 'why do this, and what would the effect be'. Am not really understanding why the latter group are being criticized for doing this?

It’s been tried, in communist Russia. What happens is that whoever is in charge if redistributing the money, nicks a huge chunk of it, uses that to buy favours and stay in power and before you know it you’re in a mafia dictatorship.

But to take the thought experiment further, imagine what would happen if all food and wealth was redistributed on a global basis. Ie it wasn’t just the rich Britons giving away assets and money to poor Britons, but also poor Britons giving away their homes and food etc to the homeless and starving of India and Africa.

So could you point us to a country which practises the flat equality-for-all policy that you approve of, has democratic elections, doesn't exploit the human rights of minorities and which has a motivated work force? China had to introduce its own form of capitalism in order to motivate production. Cuba is functioning on a knife edge and is prey to corruption. Try getting a new mattress or car there. North Korea, perhaps?

You’d not get much as the top end would leave first

The rest would struggle get anything much on what’s left

What would happen in 5 years following this would be the rich would be rich again and the "poor" would be skint again after spending it on fags and scratchcards.

Don’t know the median.

But please remember that - when you equalise the money like that - no more benefits - no more special assistance for adjustments to homes of those in need - no more child benefit - no more any support from the state, or council. Eg. You’ll have to find your own property to buy, and you wont get subsidised rent because there will be no council or housing association properties.

Then - we can all pay about 40% plus in tax - for services only….. there is no welfare state at that point. Nhs and pension will still be a requirement.

oh look - doesn’t work.

welcome to communism v1. In a western country. Who knew.

A week later, there will be an imbalance of wealth, because some will have bought transport and a bit of land and need a loan to allow them get help working the land. And some will be in The money lending business. Some will have drunk or injected a portion of the money - others will have given some to their kids to help with their expenses.

welcome to communism v1.1.

a year later, there will be well off people and poor people again.

5 years later, there will be rich people and people who need help.

and that’s communion 2.0 - where the problem is the Uber wealthy who will do anything to get richer - and they still don’t give a sh*T about anyone else and they have buddied up to those in charge to ensure they know how to play the game and keep ahead.

the only real solution to all of the above is to do away with money in The hands of private individuals. The state takes care of all. Lol.

personally I prefer capitalism over all of the above - so please don’t daydream about taking what little I’ve managed to not be taxed out of existence or had to spend to live and work.

if you have a dream, day dream that more people were able to fend for themselves, and that the £216billion the uk welfare system reallocates annually from those who pay tax to others (assume 60 million inhabitants) - didn’t have to happen. That works out about £300k per inhabitant per annum already being redistributed.