In the News
The Cumulative Loss of Real Wages since 2008
23rd December 2018
Real wages are nominal wages adjusted for the effects of inflation. A new survey form the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has estimated that the average worker in the UK has (cumulatively) lost over £11,000 in real wages since the start of the last recession. There are big regional variations in the extent of the real pay loss which tracks the annual gas between growth of nominal pay and the retail prices index.
As we reach the end of 2018, real wages are now starting to recover some ground (pay rises are out-stripping inflation) but clearly there is a long way to go before the losses of real pay since the last recession are recovered.
Cumulative real pay loss since 2008
— Trades Union Congress (@The_TUC) December 14, 2018
UK🔻£11,840
London🔻£20,390
South West🔻£14,420
North West🔻£14,230
South East🔻£13,590
East Mids🔻£12,920
Yorks/Humber🔻£12,680
East of England🔻£11,470
West Mids🔻£9,220
North East🔻£4,890
What workers want for Christmas is a proper pay rise
Geoff Riley
Geoff Riley FRSA has been teaching Economics for over thirty years. He has over twenty years experience as Head of Economics at leading schools. He writes extensively and is a contributor and presenter on CPD conferences in the UK and overseas.
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