North West workers would be £90 a week better off had pay risen at pre-recession rate

Workers in the North West would be nearly £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 16 October).

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 £88.50 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.

North West TUC Regional Secretary Lynn Collins said: “Workers in the North West would be nearly £4,500 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.

“With savings spent and credit cards maxed out, people are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet, and unless Britain gets a pay rise soon the UK’s personal debt problem will get even worse.

“That’s why thousands of people from across the North West – who work in both the private and the public sectors – will be coming to London on Saturday for our Britain Needs a Pay Rise march and rally.”