{"id":12097,"date":"2017-04-12T16:45:56","date_gmt":"2017-04-12T15:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=12097"},"modified":"2017-04-13T14:03:57","modified_gmt":"2017-04-13T13:03:57","slug":"more-wage-pain-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=12097","title":{"rendered":"More wage pain"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The largest fall in living standards since records began is set to continue \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and will only further deepen \u00e2\u20ac\u201d after figures released today (April 12) show rising inflation but near zero wage growth.<\/p>\n

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\nBetween the three months to February 2016 and the three months to February 2017, in nominal terms, regular pay increased by only 2.2 per cent. This was lower than the growth rate between the three months to January 2016 and the three months to January 2017 of 2.4 per cent, reflecting lower pay growth across the private sector especially in wholesaling, retailing, hotels and restaurants.<\/p>\n

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\nAnd once adjusted for inflation, average weekly earnings excluding bonuses grew by just 0.1 per cent in three months to February compared with the same time period last year \u00e2\u20ac\u201d this is the slowest rate of growth since 2014.<\/p>\n

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\nInflation is now running at 2.3 per cent, well above the Bank of England\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 2 per cent target, with this figure set to rise to 3 per cent in the summer, threatening to wholly wipe out any wage increases.<\/p>\n

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\nThe Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) predicts<\/a> that Britons\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 wage pain will continue for the next several years \u00e2\u20ac\u201d wages, the think tank notes, will not start to pick up till 2021. In 2020, working people will be no better off than they were in 2008, when the financial crisis first hit.<\/p>\n

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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis sustained slowdown in income growth is unprecedented in at least the last 60 years,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 the IFS said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOf course, some households will see a bigger squeeze on their income than others. Pensioner incomes will continue to grow faster than those of the rest of the population, while low-income households with children are likely to fare worst.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\nResolution Foundation economic analyst Stephen Clarke warned that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBritain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s brief pay recovery has come to an end.<\/p>\n

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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bForty per cent of the workforce are experiencing shrinking pay packets according to the latest figures, in sectors ranging from accommodation to finance and the public sector,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bMany more will join them in the coming months as inflation continues to rise, with pay across the economy as a whole set to have fallen in the first three months of 2017.<\/p>\n

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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhile the National Living Wage is protecting the lowest earners from this squeeze, boosting wages across the rest of the economy is the big living standards challenge of this parliament,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Clarke added.<\/p>\n

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Minimum wage\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>
\nUnite has long called for a substantive hike in the minimum wage to ensure that it is a real living wage \u00e2\u20ac\u201d one that enables the lowest earners to have a basic standard of living. This would mean raising the minimum wage to \u00c2\u014110 an hour now.<\/p>\n

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\nYesterday (April 11) Unite welcomed<\/a> Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s policy of hiking the minimum wage.<\/p>\n

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\nUnite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said that it was one of a number of measures the government can take \u00e2\u20ac\u015bto prevent the economy and people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s living standards from plummeting.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThese [also]include ending the freeze on working age benefits and\u00c2\u00a0the real cuts to\u00c2\u00a0public sector pay,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bMost importantly of all, we need public investment to create jobs and stimulate the economy and an end to the Tories\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 counter-productive reign of austerity.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\nTUC general secretary Frances O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Grady likewise called for immediate action now in response to today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s figures.<\/p>\n

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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPay packets are taking a hammering from rising inflation and falling wage growth,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe now need urgent action to stop another living standards crisis. Working people will want to know when Theresa May is going to do something to help.<\/p>\n

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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need more investment in skills and infrastructure to build strong foundations for better paid jobs. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time to scrap the pay restrictions hitting midwives, teachers and other public servants.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\nUnite general secretary Len McCluskey agreed.<\/p>\n

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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOnly the people of Greece have suffered a bigger fall in living standards during these miserable austerity years,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he argued. “For too many workers in this country, work simply does not pay.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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“The government is directly to blame for a great deal of this hardship through its economic policies, failing to invest, imposing its year on year wage cut for millions of public sector workers, and for its cruel Universal Credit taper which will trap even more families in in-work poverty.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Benefits changes<\/strong><\/em>
\nThis week, changes to the Universal Credit (UC) taper rate<\/a> were introduced, which allows people to keep more of their benefits while they are earning money. But this comes on the back of a major slash to work allowance \u00e2\u20ac\u201d only just last year, claimants could earn up to \u00c2\u0141263 a month minus housing allowance before their benefits were reduced; now they start to have their benefits taken away once they start earning \u00c2\u0141192 a month.<\/p>\n

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\nOther benefits changes introduced this month will have major repercussions for those struggling on low wages in the face of rising inflation. For example, from April 6, UC and Child Tax Credit are limited to only two children. Additional payments for those who are too ill to work but might be found fit to work in the future have dropped from \u00c2\u0141102 a week to only \u00c2\u014173 a week. And in a major blow for young people, those aged between 18 and 21 who start a new claim for UC will not be automatically entitled to housing benefit.<\/p>\n

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\nMcCluskey said that in addition to government reforms which reverse such major cuts to welfare entitlements, big business too \u00e2\u20ac\u015bmust address the sort of economy and society it is helping to create.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt has spent the austerity years hoarding billions in the banks or squandering on excessive boardroom pay,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

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“We cannot have an economy that works for all when the spoils are grabbed by just a few.<\/p>\n

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“The government must act to reverse this appalling and yawning inequality,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey added.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need collective bargaining restored to secure a fair rate for the job in sectors, like construction and hospitality.\u00c2\u00a0 And we need action to bridge the wage gap between the shop floor and the boardroom.”<\/p>\n

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The largest fall in living standards since records began is set to continue \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and will only further deepen \u00e2\u20ac\u201d after figures released today (April 12) show rising inflation but near zero wage growth.     Between the three months to February 2016 and the three months to February 2017, in nominal terms, regular pay […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":912,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[325,215,165],"wps_subtitle":"Living standards continue to plummet","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12097"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12097"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12099,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12097\/revisions\/12099"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}