British workers see biggest fall in wages - TUC

Workers in the UK have suffered the biggest fall in wages among the world's richest countries since the financial crisis, research has suggested.

Between 2007 and 2015 wages in the UK fell by 10.4%, a drop equalled only by Greece, the analysis by the TUC found.

Women's pay in particular needs to be boosted, the union body said. Women earn on average 19.2% less than men, according to the latest official data.

The Treasury said the TUC's analysis did not fully reflect living standards.

The UK is the joint biggest faller on pay in 29 countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - a forum for wealthy countries who work together to promote financial growth and social wellbeing.

The UK, Greece and Portugal were the only three OECD countries that saw real wages fall, according to the research complied by the TUC.

'Boost women's pay'

Over the same eight-year period real wages grew in Poland by 23%, in Germany by 14% and in France by 11%, the TUC found. As an average real wages increased in OECD countries as a whole by 6.7%.

Real wages is a term used for wages that have been adjusted for inflation over time.

 

"We need to boost pay across the board, particularly for the one in four women still facing low pay," said Frances O'Grady, general secretary of the TUC, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales.

"Wages fell off the cliff after the financial crisis and have barely begun to recover," she added.

She said people could not afford another hit to their pay packets, and that working people should not foot the bill for a Brexit downturn.