Wage growth in the UK in 2020

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The latest data published by Resolution Foundation shows that official data on wage growth in 2020 is severely distorted. Government statistics show the fastest wage growth in the UK in two decades, while data from an independent think-tank shows that at least half of the UK population has experienced real wage cuts in the past year.

Official data shows average weekly wage growth at the end of 2020 at 4.5%, the highest level since 2002. Unfortunately, as The Resolution Foundation experts point out, these statistics do not reflect changes in wage packages and changes to the structure of the workforce in the country. last year. Ultimately, the outbreak has led to job losses in the UK by thousands of lower-paid workers, and many people have also been forced to take leave under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. According to a think-tank report, average annual wage growth was only 0.6% in the fall of 2020, which, after adjusting for inflation, means that half of workers in the UK experienced a real wage drop of 0.2%. Within 12 months. As for the fourth quarter of last year, average wage growth actually improved, reaching 1.8%, but after adjusting for inflation, it was 1%. (This is the second smallest increase since mid-2013.)

The UK’s biggest recession in 300 years

The experts from Resolution have no doubt that the UK economy is really bad. – Economie [UK] Last year saw its worst recession in more than 300 years, with a third of private sector workers forced to leave at their peak. [epidemii]And yet, in an unbelievable way, wage growth has peaked in nearly 20 years. Unfortunately, the story of standard salary packages [snuta na podstawie] Official data is too good to be true. In fact, half of workers experienced real wage cuts in real terms last fall, and wage growth was the slowest among those hardest hit by the epidemic – among young and low-wage earners, and among those who work in human contact sectors such as hotels, said Hannah Slaughter of Resolution Foundation. .