Why we feel the squeeze
FRANCES O’GRADY
■ Wages increased by an average of 3.1% last year but real pay is still £11 a week lower than it was before the 2008 financial crisis.
■ Many of those forced to take out high-interest, short-term loans are unemployed, so such increases mean little to them. ■ Inflation was up to 2.7% in August 2018.
■ The cost of many daily essentials is rising faster than the rate of inflation.
■ Rail fares have risen three times faster than wages since Tories came to power in 2010. ■ Season tickets from Chelmsford, Essex, to London are 13% of an average salary.
■ Last year’s heatwaves led to a rise in price of food staples. ■ Goods have been hit by high HOUSEHOLD debt is at crisis levels. Years of austerity and wage stagnation has pushed millions of families into the red.
A decade of Tory austerity has come at a high price for working people. Just paying for basics, like food, bills and rent, has become a battle.
The Government claims it is “making working pay”. But try telling that to families who rely on payday loans or food banks.
For those driven into the red, the poverty and anxiety is bad enough, but there’s a danger for the whole nation. We can’t Bills are rising faster than wages import costs after fall in pound due to Brexit referendum.
■ Loaf of white bread is up 8p on April 2016 prices.
■ University of Sussex says Brexit could cost households £500 more every year.
■ Domestic energy bills went up by 76% from 2006 to 2016. ■ In 2017, households paid an extra £75 each, on average, for gas and electricity.
■ No-deal Brexit could add £1.5billion to UK’s energy bills by March 2020, University College London has predicted. ■ School budget cuts mean parents are being asked to contribute to kids’ education.
■ Universal Credit will mean some low-income families lose right to free school meals for children, campaigners claim. keep Britain’s economy growing on household debt. Eventually it will come crashing down.
The only foundation for our economy is wage growth. That’s why we need a higher minimum wage of £10 an hour.
Too much wealth is hoarded at the top. Working people need more bargaining power to get their fair share. That means giving trade unions the freedom to enter every workplace to negotiate fair pay.
Working poverty is not inevitable. We must redesign the economy to make it fair.