France's wealthiest people are typically men in their fifties and sixties, living in Paris as part of a childless couple and working as executives or running their own businesses. This snapshot of the super-rich emerges from a study published by France's national statistics institute, which also reveals a dramatic widening of the income gap over the past 20 years.
Published on Tuesday, the Insee study shows the wealthiest households now earn 31 times more than average families, up from 21 times in 2003. It defines very high incomes by counting all taxable earnings and social benefits, minus direct taxes, then adjusting for household size.
