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Real wages and living standards: the latest UK evidence

26 March 2015

Since the global financial crisis, workers' real wages and family living standards in the UK have suffered to an extent unprecedented in modern history. The one group in society for whom living standards have risen since 2008 is pensioners. But young workers have faced a 'double whammy': greater falls in real wages and bigger rises in unemployment. These are among the findings of a new report on real wages and living standards from the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) - the latest in a series of background briefings on key policy issues in the May 2015 UK general election, according to LSE. Author Professor Stephen Machin shows that: Real wages of the typical (median) UK worker have fallen by almost 10 percent since 2008. Compared with the trend of 2 percent yearly real wage growth (from 1980 to the early 2000s), this represents around a 20 percent shortfall. This recent experience is weaker than in the majority of other OECD countries.

This article was published online by The Financial on March 26, 2015
Link to article here

Related Publications
Real Wages and Living Standards, Stephen Machin, CEP 2015 Election Analyses Series, March 2015

Related Links
Steve Machin webpage
Education and Skills Programme webpage

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