Politicsuk newsuk businessuk economy

Your Wages Have Been Falling For Seven Years, Trade Unions Warn

Your Wages Have Shrunk By HOW Much Each Week?
The Huffington Post/PA
|
Open Image Modal
Michael DeLeon via Getty Images

Average wages have fallen in real terms by £50 a week since 2008, according to a new study.

Research by the TUC said average weekly earnings have been falling for seven years in a row, the longest stretch since records began in the 1850s.

The report follows official data from the Office for National Statistics yesterday, which showed that average annual pay growth has improved slightly but is still well below inflation at 0.7%.

Figures covering June to August showed a slight improvement on 0.6% recorded a month before but extends the real terms squeeze on wages - with a steep fall in bonuses at the bailed-out banks keeping the number down.

See also:

Here's Why You're Actually Earning Less (Despite What Your Pay Slip Says)

UK Interest Rate Rise Set For Next Spring As Inflation Eases Further

We Recovered Sooner, But Here Are 10 Facts Osborne Would Prefer You Ignored

World's Richest 1% Own Almost Half Of Global Wealth Says Credit Suisse Report

Are Brits £1,600 Really Worse Off Since David Cameron Took Over?

It gives the Bank of England further scope to delay any rise in interest rates, with expectations for the first hike already pushed back well into next year with inflation at a five-year low of 1.2% and fears over the global economic climate.

Earnings have not been consistently improving at a higher rate than inflation since 2008, though they briefly edged ahead earlier this year.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Workers would be over £2,500 a year better off had wage growth kept pace with even the most modest measure of inflation.

"Instead, pay has fallen off a cliff and shows little sign of recovering any time soon. Ordinary households are not sharing in the recovery and are facing their seventh consecutive year of real wage cuts.

"People are increasingly being forced to use their credit cards and dwindling savings to make ends meet, and unless Britain gets a pay rise soon the UK's personal debt problem will get even worse.

"That's why thousands and thousands of people from across the country - who work in both the private and the public sectors - will be coming to London on Saturday for our Britain Needs a Pay Rise march and rally."

See also:

George Osborne's Exporting Awkward Moments
£1.5 billion on a scheme that has helped no-one yet...(01 of10)
Open Image Modal
A £1.5bn direct lending scheme launched in 2013, aiming to offer loans of between £5 million and £50 million to overseas buyers looking to buy from British exporters, has received only 15 inquiries, with just one firm applying for support.
A £5 billion exports scheme did nothing for 2 years...(02 of10)
Open Image Modal
A £5bn export refinancing scheme, launched in July 2012 and intended to be running by the end of that year, has only now been launched this April.
Another scheme helped just five businesses (03 of10)
Open Image Modal
The government ditched its "Export Enterprise Finance Guarantee" scheme after it helped only five firms.
The UK hasn't improved much over the last year(04 of10)
Open Image Modal
According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK's balance of trade is just as negative as where it was over a year ago - with the UK importing £2.5bn more than it exports overall.
Wasn't George's aim to get Britain exporting? (05 of10)
Open Image Modal
The Tory party manifesto of 2010 stated that "a sustainable recovery must be driven by growth in exports." Meanwhile, George Osborne promised in June 2010 to "raise from the ruins of an economy built on debt a new, balanced economy where we save, invest and export." He went on to promise in 2012 to double British exports to £1 trillion by the end of the decade, a target that MPs recently warned he was going to miss.
The UK looks to be losing the global race(06 of10)
Open Image Modal
Despite coalition rhetoric that the UK is in a "global race" against other countries, the OBR warned that they expect the UK's share of the export market to keep shrinking as it loses out to competitors over the next few years.
Will Osborne's export efforts mean much? (07 of10)
Open Image Modal
The OBR also estimated that the amount exported by Britain will be so dwarfed by how much it imports that it will slightly drag down growth this year and then make "little" contribution to growth over the next few years.
The IMF says UK exports are too weak(08 of10)
Open Image Modal
Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, said last week that UK exports remain "subdued", adding: "The export cylinder is one that could fire a little more strongly."
We're having to rely more on foreign investment(09 of10)
Open Image Modal
The UK’s current account, which summarises the transactions between Britain and the rest of the world, has been getting worse, leading the ONS to conclude that the country was "becoming increasingly dependent on inflows of foreign capital". (credit:ONS )
George knows he has his work cut out...(10 of10)
Open Image Modal
"The job is never done," the Chancellor admitted in April as he unveiled his latest raft of reforms to get British business trading.
Suggest a correction
|
Submit a tip