No pay rises in 2018, says think tank

Britain’s workers are facing the prospect of another year without a pay rise, a leading economic think tank has warned.

The Resolution Foundation (RF) said it was expecting zero growth in real wages over the course of 2018 as a whole.

While the pay squeeze which saw real wages fall back in 2017 is set to come to an end, it said a “noticeable” year-on-year rise in real pay was not now forecast until December 2018.

Real pay remains £15-a-week below its peak before the global financial crash of 2008 and is not expected to recover to its pre-crisis levels until 2025.

The RF said its gloomy outlook was shared by the public with more than half expecting their pay to remain the same or fall over the next 12 months if they stay in the same job.

Just one in seven said they were expecting a pay increase, while around a quarter of households expect their financial situation will worsen over the year, roughly the same proportion as those who believe it will get better.

RF director Torsten Bell said: “2017 was a tough year for living standards as the pay squeeze returned. he bad news is we may only go from backwards to standing still.”