The number of millionaires is set to quadruple by 2020, and women are poised to dominate their ranks, according to a new study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).
In a modern age of longevity and generous divorce settlements, the CEBR claims that 53% of the 1.7m millionaires it forecasts in Britain by 2020 will be women. Britain currently has 376,000 millionaires.
More women will enter the millionaire bracket, the report claims, despite a 6% decline in their numbers between 2002 and 2003. The drop from 46% to 40% of all millionaires appears to be driven by the falling stock market, the CEBR says.
However, this factor will not only change but become one of their key drivers in the wealth stakes. Women are making more investments in shares than their male counterparts, the report argues, and are more likely to benefit from rising inflation that is expected to elevate the value of the stock market.
“With the stock market up sharply since 2003, albeit still below its pre dot.com crash highs, we estimate that the number of female millionaires is likely to have already recovered to the 2002 level,” said Jaspreet Sehmi, economist at CEBR.
“It is interesting to point out that while the 2003 data shows more males than females in the millionaires’ bracket, 52% of those in the £500,000 to £1,000,000 wealth bracket in 2003 were female. The proportion of female millionaires is therefore likely to receive a boost as inflation pushes this group into the millionaires’ bracket.”
The CEBR also credits rising house prices for women’s expected rise in the wealth stakes.
