Saturday, February 01, 2014

Real Wages Fall

 The value of real wages has fallen for the longest period for more than 50 years. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), wages have hit minus 2.2 per cent on average since the first quarter of 2010.

Wage growth averaged 2.9 per cent in the 1970s and 1980s, 1.5 per cent in the 1990s, and 1.2 per cent in the 2000s.

Unite general-secretary Len McCluskey said: “These figures expose the government’s shocking complacency. The bald truth is the cost of living in this country is vastly outstripping wages. David Cameron has presided over horrific price rises in essentials like food, fuel and travel but he’s done nothing to alleviate this pain.”

TUC general-secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Over the last four years, British workers have suffered an unprecedented real-wage squeeze. Average pay rises have been getting weaker in every decade since the 1980s, despite increases in productivity and profits.”

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