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Real Wages and Living Standards

Author

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  • Stephen Machin

Abstract

Real wages and living standards have taken a hard hit in the UK in the recent past. Real wages of the typical (median) UK worker have fallen by almost 10% since 2008 and median family incomes have significantly fallen for working age households. This recent experience is weaker than in the majority of other OECD countries. Whilst the employment performance of the economy has been better than in previous downturns, some groups have been hit harder by the downturn: young workers in particular have suffered the 'double whammy' of greater falls in real wages and bigger rises in unemployment. No party has a coherent policy on what can be done substantively to improve the real wage position of the typical (median) worker. However, given they have fared so badly in recent years, policy should be geared up to focus on improving the labour market position of the young.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen Machin, 2015. "Real Wages and Living Standards," CEP Election Analysis Papers 024, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:cepeap:024
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    File URL: https://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/ea024.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Lee, Neil & Clarke, Stephen, 2019. "Do low-skilled workers gain from high-tech employment growth? High-technology multipliers, employment and wages in Britain," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    2. Neil Lee & Stephen Clarke, 2017. "Who gains from high-tech growth? High-technology multipliers, employment and wages in Britain," SPRU Working Paper Series 2017-14, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.

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