The Cumulative Loss of Real Wages since 2008

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.