Toggle high contrast
Issue date
Pay packets are still worth less than in 2008 in half (50%) of the North East’s local authorities, according to new TUC analysis, published today (Monday).
  • Real wages still below 2008 level in 6 of the region’s 12 local authorities
  • TUC says longest pay squeeze in modern era is a “damning indictment” of the Conservatives’ economic record
  • North East workers would be £160 a week better off if pay had grown at pre-crisis trends

The analysis of official statistics shows that 16 years on from the financial crash wages are lower – in real terms – in 6 of the region’s 12 local authorities (for which data is available).

Those local authorities are:

  • South Tyneside
  • County Durham UA
  • Sunderland
  • Gateshead
  • Redcar and Cleveland UA
  • Hartlepool UA

Across the region as whole average weekly pay is just £2 a week higher – in real terms - than in 2008 after more than decade of stagnation.

And in every North East local authority real wages are far below where they would be if they had grown at the pre-2008 growth rate.

The union body estimates that if wage growth had been sustained at previous rates the average North East worker would be £160 a week better off.

Unprecedented pay squeeze

The TUC described the findings as a “damning indictment” of the Conservatives’ economic record.

Millions of UK workers are currently enduring the longest pay squeeze in more than 200 years.

Not since Napoleonic times has there been such a sustained period of wage stagnation.

The analysis shows that even in areas where real wages have recovered – pay growth is way below historic trends.

The UK has one of the worst records among OECD nations for pay growth since the financial crisis.

When the Conservatives took office in 2010, a wage recovery was already underway following the financial crisis.

However, the wage recovery went into reverse when the Conservatives hit the UK with their austerity programme, including real terms pay cuts across the public sector.

TUC Regional Secretary Liz Blackshaw said:

 “Hard work should pay for everyone. But people are still worse off than in 2008 in many parts of the North East. And in every corner of the region pay growth is way below historic trends.

“This is a damning indictment of the Conservatives’ economic record. “This is a damning indictment of the Conservatives’ economic record. This is the same government that’s given us the most dramatic fall in living standards on record.

“The Tories failure to grow the economy - and their scorched-earth austerity policies – has decimated family budgets. Just imagine how much better off people would be if they had an extra £160 a week in their pay packets – and how much more prosperous the country would be.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. We can create a new era of decent pay growth again where families’ living standards rise rather than falling backwards.

“But we need a new approach to get there. That means a proper plan to get the economy growing again by investing in UK industry, and a New Deal so that working people get a fair share of the wealth they create.”

Editors note

Notes to editors:

Area

Real median gross weekly earnings 2024

Where wages would be in 2024 if they had grown at pre-2008 rate

Difference between hypothetical wages and actual wages in 2024 (£)

North Tyneside

590

702

112

Northumberland UA

563

700

137

Newcastle upon Tyne

556

693

137

Middlesbrough UA

499

631

131

Stockton-on-Tees UA

544

705

161

Darlington UA

549

713

164

South Tyneside**

527

696

170

County Durham UA**

551

735

184

Sunderland**

526

708

182

Gateshead**

533

724

191

Redcar and Cleveland UA**

495

690

195

Hartlepool UA**

540

758

218

**Areas where real wages are still lower than in 2008

Data was not available for Tyne and Wear Met council

- TUC analysis: The TUC analysis is based on local authority pay data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) for the period between 1997 and 2023. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/placeofresidencebylocalauthorityashetable8

For 2024 pay data, the OBR forecasts for real wage growth from the March 2024 economic and fiscal outlook have been applied to the 2023 pay figures: https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2024/

Real wage change in each nation, region, and local authority was calculated by finding the difference between median real gross weekly pay in each area between 2008 and 2024.

2008 wages were adjusted to take inflation into account (CPI, 2024=100). The latest OBR forecasts are used for 2024 inflation. Percentage change was calculated to show change from the 2008 figure. 

The full results also compare the 2024 real wage values with the level wages would have reached if real pay growth since 2008 had matched the average rate in the years prior to the financial crisis (the period 1997, when this pay data begins, to 2008). The average annual real pay growth between 1997 and 2008 was 1.7%.

A small number of local authorities are excluded from the analysis because of either boundary changes or because the full data needed is not available. They are: Cumberland UA, Westmorland and Furness UA, North Northamptonshire UA, West Northamptonshire UA, East Suffolk, West Suffolk, City of London, Isles of Scilly, Orkney Islands, and Shetland Islands.

- OECD comparison: OECD data on wages is based on national accounts rather than the type of earnings survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics that is used in this analysis. It is not as accurate as the ONS survey, but it allows for comparisons between countries, as some nations do not conduct earnings surveys in the same way as the ONS. Under this approach, the UK shows a very small improvement in real wages from pre-financial crisis peak in 2007 to 2022 (the most recent year for which data for international comparisons is available). And it shows that the UK is in 27th place out of 34 OECD nations for wage growth across this period. 

- About the TUC: The Trades Union Congress (TUC) exists to make the working world a better place for everyone. We bring together the 5.5 million working people who make up our 48 member unions. We support unions to grow and thrive, and we stand up for everyone who works for a living.

Contacts:

TUC press office 
media@tuc.org.uk  
020 7467 1248 

Enable Two-Factor Authentication

To access the admin area, you will need to setup two-factor authentication (TFA).

Setup now