Decade of low pay has driven Cornish families deep into debt

According to TUC analysis published today, a decade of low pay is pushing working families deep into the red.  

Real wages in the South West have still not recovered to their 2008 levels – the longest pay squeeze in centuries. As a result, the average working person in the South West has lost £17,093 over the last 11 years as wages have not kept pace with rising inflation.  

Household debt has increased by a third since 2010 to a new record of £14,200.  

Recent government figures have also shown more people are going bankrupt as personal debt levels become unsustainable.   

Cornwall's wage crisis impacting millenials

Cornwall has one of the worst insolvencies rates in England and Wales – with 41 people out of 10,000 adults going through either a debt relief order, bankruptcy or undertaking an individual voluntary arrangement.  

The younger generation are among the worst hit – a third of all new insolvencies in Cornwall in 2018 were under the age of 35. And constituencies such as Camborne and Redruth, St. Austell and Newquay, and St. Ives have seen a steady rise in insolvency rates since 2011.  

Overall, individual insolvencies in the UK are at their highest level since 2010. More than 115,000 people across the country were pushed over the financial cliff edge in 2018. And with numbers already reaching over 93,000 in the first three quarters of 2019, TUC predicts this year will see even more people pushed to the financial brink.   

Commenting on the debt crisis, Nigel Costley, TUC regional secretary of the South West said:  

“We are reaching a crisis point. Wages have been plummeting for more than a decade, but the cost of living continues to go up.  

“It’s no wonder many households are turning to credit just to stay afloat.  

“Workers are being pushed to financial breaking point – and it’s not their fault. 

 “Working class families have had enough of a system that’s rigged in favour of the rich. People in Cornwall deserve better than rising debt and low-paid, insecure jobs on impossible hours that make it hard to see family and friends.  

“This government has only achieved more poverty, more insecurity and more debt. Enough is enough. We need to see real change that working people deserve.”