There are very few women among the
richest people in the UK and other OECD countries, according to a report
published by the London School of Economics.
Out of the wealthiest 53,000 people in the UK in 2013, only 9% were women.The report examined tax data from OECD countries where couples made separate tax returns.
It said a wealth "glass ceiling" appeared to exist, with women a distinct minority of the very wealthy.
A co-author of the report, Alessandra Casarico, said women were "rarer the higher one climbs".
'Male world'
In the UK, while the proportion of women among the wealthiest 10% and 1% of people had risen since the 1990s, the share of women in the top 0.1% - the wealthiest 53,000 - was little changed.The UK showed the lowest number of wealthy women in that group among the six countries that could be compared.
Professor John Hills, co-director at the LSE's International Inequalities Institute, which is publishing the paper said: "Right at the top it is still a male world."
"Women have managed to increase their representation in the top 10% because of their success in the professions and business, but few of them are among the very wealthiest."
The researchers said that while examining salary levels was important, the use of tax data gave a more complete picture of someone's income, such as earnings from dividends, interest and share options.
The report recognised that even that picture could be skewed if a husband transferred some of his wealth to his wife to avoid tax.
The report also looked at Spain, Denmark, Canada, New Zealand, Italy, Australia and Norway, because like the UK, men and women are taxed separately.
The researchers said they did not include countries such as the US because income tax is levied on the joint income of couples there.
The years quoted in the table below represent the most recent tax data that the report's authors could collect in each country.
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