Wages of workers in the UK keep falling

Not only have the annual wages of workers fallen for six years straight, but they are now down about 9 per cent from what they were in 2008, when adjusting for inflation. Combine these lower incomes with more expensive food and in particular housing, and this is leading to exceptional hardships for many families across the UK.

The Office for National Statistics also found that wages are now equivalent to what they were about 14 years ago. While there are many factors that are contributing to this, such as the 2008 financial meltdown, one of the biggest is the fact that the working poor have been left out of the competitive job market.

Not only have wages not risen or they have gone up very slowly, but prices of all household living expenses have been increasing faster than incomes since 2010. This is leading to more families to struggling, and when coupled with reductions in government benefits, the poverty rates across the UK are still escalated. More details from the Office for National Statistics report are as follows.

• The hourly pay for women is £10.30, and about one in four women is paid below the living wages.
• Male hourly wages, when adjusted for inflation, have falling from to just under £13.00. About 15 percent are paid below the living wages as calculated by the government.
• Only about 20 per cent of low wage workers have moved on to a better paying job, so the cycle of poverty is becoming difficult to end.
• About 20 percent of the labour force have had wage freezes over the last several years, so their income did not increase.
• Even when considering bonuses or other forms of income, the number of people with a decrease is around 17%.

Another challenge of workers is the growing number of zero-hours contracts, and these also tend to be provided at a lower hourly wage as well. These contracts also are very insecure, and businesses can easily eliminate jobs and consider employees to be redundant. ONS is reporting that over one millions people are now on these types of contracts, but some other studies show that number of zero-hours contracts is much higher at five to six million.

Part time jobs and self-employed workers are also feeling the stress of lower incomes. A majority of those with part time jobs are not making the living wage, and self-employed people have had their wages fall by almost 15 per cent over the last 5 years.

This lack of income growth is unprecedented in the UK, and has not occurred in at least 50 years, since the record keeping started. The wages and when factoring in inflation mean the average family is earning £1850 less than they did in when factoring in the process for living expenses.

Younger people are feeling the brunt of this as well. These workers, who are under the age of 29, have had over a 15 per cent reduction in wages, and this is putting the youth of the UK in a real hardship. This will impact their ability to earn an education and the zero-hour contracts are not giving them the experience they need to be successful over the long term.

The data from the Office for National Statistics shows the UK labour market is struggling. While the jobless rate is lower than it has been over the last several years, the wages are just not flowing to the general public and the people who need the money, and is leading to increased hardships and even poverty.