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Exposing the racial wealth divide in South Africa and the UK

We study the scale and dynamics of racialised wealth divides across the globe, with a specific interest in the UK and South Africa. We conduct original research using probate and survey data scoping out the scale of racialised inequalities, along with qualitative studies of the experiences and identities of differing racialised groups.

Tackling wealth inequality must be at the heart of any work towards racial justice. ‍

Structural and historic wealth imbalances - rooted in slavery and colonialism - still impact the wealth of people of colour across the globe. This interdisciplinary research considers both the scale of racialised wealth divides, but also the experiences and cultural values that are associated with them. The project explores facets of the racial wealth divide ranging from home ownership rates to household wealth, inheritance and practices of sending money to relatives abroad.

A major concern is to extend beyond the global north and elaborate global perspectives on racialised wealth inequalities which reflect wider imperial histories that remain powerful today. We draw on funded research projects working with the African Centre for Excellence in Inequality Research and have particular interests in comparative analysis of the UK and South Africa. Our work engages academics and campaigning groups in both country as we prepare a book to be published by LSE Press in 2026 on ‘Colonial Pasts and Inequality Today: exposing the racial wealth divide in the UK and South Africa.

Highlights:

The COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis have exposed the stark inequalities between those with large asset piles and wealth, who can ride out the economic storms, compared to those navigating debts and with no assets of any kind to offer any kind of safety cushion. It is not sufficiently realised that these divides are hugely racialised. We

We extend recent initiatives to analyse the stark racial wealth gap which exists across in many nations. In the UK, the Runnymede Trust’s 2020 The Colour of Money report pointed to systematic racial inequalities in the UK, with white Bangladeshi and Black African households having only 10% of the average wealth of white British households. Mike Savage’s collaborations with South African and UK based researchers exploring how the racial wealth divide is experienced and perceived across differing racialised communities has encouraged considerable debate and interest. A feature of this work is the use of peer-based community research methods, so that the voices of marginalised communities are heard, and in a way which helps to empower such groups to reflect on and mobilise on the research findings. We have conducted qualitative research which extend perspectives on this ‘racial wealth divide’ and will lead to collaborative publication.

We work closely with colleagues in South Africa and have championed the use of geometric data analysis methods, previously largely confined to the study of inequality in European nations, to South Africa, where they reveal stark features of racialised wealth divides. We are interested in building on recent scholarship which links racial wealth gaps to the long-term history of colonialism and slavery, and their long-term legacies. We also seek to consider how these are marked in the contemporary understandings of wealth and consider how far different groups root these in the colonial past and appropriation.

Forthcoming, Colonial Pasts and Inequality Today: the Racial Wealth Divide in the UK and South Africa, LSE Press 2026.

Karagiannaki, E. 2025. The Ethnic Wealth Divide in the UK: Mapping Disparities Across Time, Age and Immigrant Generations. Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion. (also see news story)

Branson, N., Hjellbrekke, J., Leibbrandt, M., Ranchhod, V., Savage, M. and Whitelaw, E., 2024. The socioeconomic dimensions of racial inequality in South Africa: A social space perspective. The British Journal of Sociology, 75(4), pp.613-635.

Racial justice and wealth inequality: a call for action
10 June 2025

Watch the recording here

Speakers:
Dr Shabna Begum, CEO of the Runnymede Trust
Dr Kojo Koram, Reader in Law, Birkbeck School of Law
Professor Mike Savage, Professorial Research Fellow, LSE III
Mina Mahmoudzadeh, PhD candidate, LSE Department of Sociology
Esiri Bukata, MSc Inequalities and Social Sciences alumna

Chair:
Dr Faiza Shaheen, Distinguished Policy Fellow at LSE’s International Inequalities Institute

This event marks the launch of ‘Why the UK Racial Wealth Divide Matters: a call for action’, a major new report written by the LSE International Inequalities Institute for the Runnymede Trust. Our speakers will share key findings from the report, highlighting the vast scale of the racial wealth divide and how it has changed in the context of the booming of wealth assets in recent decades.

Why the racial wealth divide matters
22 November 2023

Speakers:
Dr Shabna Begum, Interim Co-CEO, The Runnymede Trust
Dr Eleni Karagiannaki, Assistant Professorial Research Fellow, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE and Faculty Associate, LSE III
Professor Vimal Ranchhod, Professor, School of Economics and Deputy Director, SALDRU, University of Cape Town
Faeza Meyer, Founding Member, African Water Commons Collective

Chair:
Professor Mike Savage, Martin White Professor of Sociology, LSE and 'Wealth Elites and Tax Justice' Research Programme Leader, LSE III

There is increasing evidence that wealth assets play a significant role in allowing social mobility advantages to the children of wealthy households. However, it is not widely appreciated that these developments underscore the intensification of racial wealth divides. Although the historical study of the racialised elements of wealth inequality is widely known, with widely appreciated studies of slavery and imperialism, the contemporary racialisation of wealth inequality needs to be much better known.