oxfam study finds five richest uk families worth more than poorest 20%

 
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Oxfam have released a report that finds the UK’s five richest families now have more wealth than the poorest fifth of the entire UK population.

On the eve of the chancellor’s budget, Oxfam have released their findings into now in the hope of putting pressure on George Osborne to apply greater measures to combat tax avoidance by the super rich.

In terms of pure numbers, the findings state that the richest five families have more money and assets than 12.6 million Britons combined, with the gulf widening further with each year.

Ben Phillips, Oxfam’s director of campaigns and policy said: “Britain is becoming a deeply divided nation, with a wealthy elite who are seeing their incomes spiral up, while millions of families are struggling to make ends meet….it’s deeply worrying that these extreme levels of wealth inequality exist in Britain today, where just a handful of people have more money than millions struggling to survive on the breadline.”

For more on the story, check out the Guardian’s coverage of the report.