{"id":3294,"date":"2015-03-12T12:27:11","date_gmt":"2015-03-12T12:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=3294"},"modified":"2015-03-12T17:48:37","modified_gmt":"2015-03-12T17:48:37","slug":"poor-still-paying-price","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=3294","title":{"rendered":"Poor still paying price"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The wealth of top earners has risen sharply while the wealth of the poorest has slumped dramatically, according to a new report. The wealth of top earners rose by two-thirds at the same time the wealth of the lowest paid dropped by nearly the same amount.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Debts owed by the highest earners have also fallen while those of the lowest paid have risen. The debts of the poorest now make up the equivalent of nearly a third of their pay.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The lowest earners have average savings which are the equivalent of only\u00c2\u00a0six day\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pay, leaving them more financially vulnerable than before the financial crisis. The measure of wealth excludes rises in property values and the measure of debts includes loans and overdrafts but excludes mortgage debt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The research measured wealth and debt between 2005 and 2012, the latest figures available. It focused on differences in the income and wealth of the highest 20 per cent\u00c2\u00a0of earners and the lowest 20 per cent\u00c2\u00a0of earners.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The research found a significant cut in the real value of pay between 2008 and 2012. The decline in the value of wages \u00e2\u20ac\u201c what they can buy \u00e2\u20ac\u201c continued to fall from 2012.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It found that the pay squeeze has hit the poorest paid hardest. And while their income is often boosted by in-work welfare benefits, these have also been frozen in value.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The position of the poorest households, says the report, is not likely to change until there is sustained rise in real earnings which feeds into household income. The report pointed to \u00e2\u20ac\u015ba striking increase in economic uncertainty\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 during the recession which hit in the aftermath of the financial crisis. It found that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bTemporary and precarious employment also became more prevalent.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Steve Turner, Unite assistant general secretary said: \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe blunt message is that ideological austerity has failed, it’s failed economically but more importantly it’s failed our people. This report exposes the Tory lie that ‘we’re all in it together’.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Most obscene \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The reality is seen at its most obscene in the fact that five UK families now have a combined wealth equal to the poorest 20\u00c2\u00a0per cent\u00c2\u00a0and there is something very wrong with an economic system that allows this in the fifth richest nation on our planet.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe position of the poorest paid will not change unless we see sustained rises in pay over several years. The posh boys and old Etonians at the heart of Government are so out of touch with reality that they simply don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand the realities for millions of men and women of insecure, low paid work with no guarantee of another shift beyond today’s.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn reality the poorest rely on what they earn as their ‘wealth’ often inheriting no more than a growing debt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe poorest continue to pay the burden for an economic crisis caused by a small group of casino capitalists who thought nothing of risking everything to boost their bonuses with money they never saw and without a care in the world for those affected by their actions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt’s time for change, it’s time for a fairer more equal society that works for the benefit of all, not in the interests of an already rich, tax avoiding, contemptuous elite.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wealth\u00c2\u00a0in\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0downturn:\u00c2\u00a0Winners\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0losers<\/em><\/strong>,\u00c2\u00a0is\u00c2\u00a0published\u00c2\u00a0by\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0Social\u00c2\u00a0Market\u00c2\u00a0Foundation\u00c2\u00a0(SMF)<\/p>\n

and\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0Understanding\u00c2\u00a0Society Policy\u00c2\u00a0Unit\u00c2\u00a0at\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0Institute\u00c2\u00a0for\u00c2\u00a0Social\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0Economic\u00c2\u00a0Research\u00c2\u00a0 (ISER)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  The wealth of top earners has risen sharply while the wealth of the poorest has slumped dramatically, according to a new report. The wealth of top earners rose by two-thirds at the same time the wealth of the lowest paid dropped by nearly the same amount.   Debts owed by the highest earners have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[76,102],"wps_subtitle":"Financial crisis opens wealth chasm between top earners and lowest paid","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3294"}],"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=3294"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3298,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3294\/revisions\/3298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}