East Midlands workers would be over £90 a week better off had pay risen at pre-recession rate
Workers in the East Midlands would be over £90 a week better off if real wage growth had remained at its pre-recession rate, according to new analysis published by the TUC today (Thursday).
The analysis shows that even using the government’s preferred inflation measure (The consumer prices index), which excludes housing costs, workers in the region would be earning £91 a week more had pay had continued to rise at 1.9 per cent a year after the crash.
East Midlands workers would be over £90 a week better off had pay risen at pre-recession rate
Workers in the East Midlands would be over £90 a week better off if real wage growth had remained at its pre-recession rate, according to new analysis published by the TUC today (Thursday).
The analysis shows that even using the government’s preferred inflation measure (The consumer prices index), which excludes housing costs, workers in the region would be earning £91 a week more had pay had continued to rise at 1.9 per cent a year after the crash.
The TUC says the analysis shows how much working people’s living standards suffered during the recession and how pay has failed to recover during the recovery.
This is the seventh year that average weekly earnings have been falling – the longest period since records began in the 1850s, says the TUC.
Last month Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said that average weekly earnings have fallen by around 10 per cent in real terms since the financial crisis.
The TUC analysis highlights how much better off working people would be if real wages had risen at their pre-recession rate.
Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Lee Barron said: “Workers in the East Midlands would be over £4,700 a year better off had wage growth remained at its modest pre-recession rate.
“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.
“Families in the East Midlands are struggling to make ends meet. They are having to increasingly rely upon credit cards, running down savings and many are falling prey to pay day lenders. It is clear that unless the East Midlands gets a pay rise soon the region’s personal debt problem will get even worse.
“The continued erosion of pay and decimation of living standards for millions of workers in the public and private sectors is becoming the sad, sorry story of our age. And that is why thousa
nds and thousands of people from across the East Midlands will be jumping on trains and coaches and heading to London on Saturday for the TUC’s Britain Needs a Pay Rise march and rally.”
Notes to editors
Impact of pre-recession rate on real wages in the East Midlands
| Year | Actual Real Wages | If real wages had increased at 1.9% | Weekly cash difference (2013 prices) | Annual cash difference (2013 prices) |
| 2013 | £474.60 | £565.60 | £91.00 | £4,732.00 |
Source: TUC analysis of Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings
- The pre-recession rate is the average annual rate for the years between 1999 and 2008. The recession began in the spring of 2008, and annual rates cannot be calculated before 1999 using ASHE (Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings) data.
Media enquiries:
Rob Johnston, Policy & Campaigns Officer, Midlands TUC T: 0121 236 4454 M: 07879 497291 E: rjohnston@tuc.org.uk
Lee Barron, Regional Secretary, Midlands TUC, 0121 236 4454, M: 07919 102472 E: lbarron@tuc.org.uk
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