Rob Holdsworth
Living standards are falling for the first time in decades, with rising unemployment and real wage cuts causing domestic spending to fall and our economy to shrink. But shrinking pay is not a recent problem. The proportion of national wealth that goes on wages – the ‘wage output’ ratio – has been falling for over 30 years. In 1978, 58% of the wealth we created went on wages. Today it’s just 53.8%.
The incomes of ordinary workers would be far higher today if the share of national spent on wages was the same as it was in the late 1970s. To find out how much you would have been paid if the ‘wage output’ ratio hadn’t been falling for 30 years, we’ve made this incomes tracker tool. Type in your salary and see how much you would be earning today – and how much of a pay cut you’ve in effect taken.
