Pay squeeze affecting millions of people

Millions of people up and down the country are being affected by what has been shown to be the worst squeeze on earnings witnessed since the Victorian era.

Research published by the TUC has revealed that in the last seven years in the UK the level of real earnings taken home by households each month has continually fallen.

This places the most recent economic downturn as the worst since the beginning of the Victorian era some 150 years ago, with the latest squeeze on pay even worse than the Great Depression of the 1920s.

Indeed, TUC's data shows that since 2007, average earnings in the UK have reduced by eight per cent in real terms when taking into account annual price inflation and a lack of wage growth.

This fall was shown to be more than twice the reductions witnessed in the financial crises of 1865-67, 1874-78, 1921-23 and 1976-77- the worst of which saw a fall of just four per cent.

Meanwhile, each of these downturns was also shown to have taken place over a far shorter period, meaning this most recent economic crisis could now be classed as the worst in recent history.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady commented: "It's shocking that even the most infamous periods of pay depression in the last 150 years pale into comparison when looking at the current seven-year collapse in earnings.

"The government says the economy is growing again, but there's no evidence of any recovery in ordinary workers' pay packets. Across the country people are struggling to make ends meet, as their pay lags behind prices and there seems to be no end in sight to their financial misery."

Individuals feeling the pinch at present could perhaps benefit from scheduling a meeting with a professional financial adviser, as these individuals may be able to highlight present areas of their expenditure they could cut back on, as well as providing information on more drastic steps, such as insolvency.

Posted by Joe White