UK wage fall 'biggest among OECD countries' - equal only to Greece
New figures from the TUC suggest there may not be as much truth to the UK's economic recovery as we thought.
UK workers have suffered from the biggest fall in real wages among leading OECD countries, according to new research by the trade union TUC.
Between 2007 and 2015, real wages in the UK fell by 10.4%, a drop equalled only by Greece.
Over the same eight-year period, real wages in Poland increased 23%, while Germany grew just under 14% and France 11%.
Across the entire OECD, real wages increased by an average of 6.7%.
The only countries to see real wages fall were the UK, Greece and Portugal, according to the TUC analysis.
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How we compare
The TUC has listed where OECD countries are in terms of real wage change and employment rate change.
|
|
Real wage change (%) |
Employment rate change (percentage points) |
|
Greece |
-10.4 |
-9.0 |
|
UK |
-10.4 |
0.6 |
|
Portugal |
-3.7 |
-5.4 |
|
Italy |
0.9 |
-2.3 |
|
Czech Republic |
1.1 |
1.0 |
|
Ireland |
1.6 |
-7.9 |
|
Spain |
2.8 |
-8.5 |
|
Netherlands |
3.4 |
-1.7 |
|
Denmark |
4.0 |
-3.2 |
|
Lithuania |
4.3 |
5.5 |
|
Israel |
4.3 |
1.9 |
|
Finland |
4.3 |
-3.8 |
|
Belgium |
4.4 |
-0.7 |
|
Japan |
4.7 |
2.6 |
|
Latvia |
4.9 |
-3.0 |
|
USA |
6.4 |
-3.4 |
|
Austria |
6.5 |
1.2 |
|
OECD average |
6.7 |
-0.6 |
|
Slovenia |
7.2 |
-4.3 |
|
Australia |
7.2 |
-0.7 |
|
Hungary |
9.3 |
5.9 |
|
Canada |
9.4 |
-1.7 |
|
Sweden |
10.1 |
-0.7 |
|
France |
10.5 |
-1.8 |
|
Luxembourg |
11.1 |
-1.2 |
|
Switzerland |
11.3 |
0.5 |
|
Slovakia |
12.3 |
0.9 |
|
Estonia |
13.4 |
2.2 |
|
Germany |
13.9 |
5.1 |
|
Poland |
23.0 |
4.5 |
Source: TUC
Research also shows that, although the UK has boosted employment rates since the economic crisis, countries such as Germany, Hungary and Poland have achieved significantly higher increases.
We need to invest in the UK
Commenting on the figures, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:
“Wages fell off the cliff after the financial crisis, and have barely begun to recover.
“As the Bank of England recently argued, the majority of UK households have endured a ‘lost decade of income’.
“People cannot afford another hit to their pay packets. Working people must not foot the bill for a Brexit downturn in the way they did for the bankers’ crash.
O’Grady thinks she has the solution: “This analysis shows why the Government needs to invest in large infrastructure projects to create more decent, well-paid jobs.
"Other countries have shown that it is possible to increase employment and living standards at the same time.”
One of our writers certainly agrees – read more at Brexit: 5 ways to get Britain booming again.
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