CAB - Workers hit hard by gap between wages and rising prices
15 May 2014 10:01 AM
People still face increasing problems making end meet
despite positive news on falling unemployment in yesterday’s Labour Market
Statistics, Citizens Advice has warned.
Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of national charity
Citizens Advice, said:
“Pay packets are failing to keep up with rising
day to day costs. People are going out to work but finding that it more
difficult to make their stretch to cover the rising cost of essentials like
food, rent and energy as the long-standing gap between wages and inflation hits
workers hard.
“Falling unemployment will help some households
get back on their feet. It is important that people are able to get
secure work to make sure they have a consistent income and don’t find
themselves slipping in and out of employment.
“Self-employment is at an all-time high. For many
people setting up on their own is step back towards employment rather than the
final destination. Self-employed people are just as likely to come to CAB
for help with a debt problem as people who are unemployed, so there’s a
real danger that rising self-employment could reflect a rise in people in
unstable, low paid work.”
Analysis from Citizens Advice has found that earnings
are still lagging behind inflation. Figures showing wage changes are calculated
as a three month average, whereas CPI growth is taken from a single month.
Comparing like with like, so one month with one month compounding the monthly
changes, shows that inflation is still higher than wage growth, as the graph
below shows.
Citizens Advice statistics on self-employment (December
2013 to February 2014):
•33% self-employed people who came to Citizens
Advice for help in the last three months got advice on debt problems, the same
proportion as those who are unemployed.
•29% of people in work got help with a debt
problem.
•14% of self-employed people who come to Citizens
Advice with a debt issue have problems with mortgage and secured loan
arrears.
•More than 1 in 10 self-employed people who got
help with debt issues got advice on bankruptcy compared to 7% in work and 5%
unemployed.
Citizens Advice
Notes to editors:
- This year the Citizens Advice service celebrates its
75th anniversary. We’ve planned a year of activity running from January
to December 2014. Contact the press office to find out more.
- The
Citizens Advice service comprises a network of local bureaux, all of which are
independent charities, the Citizens Advice consumer service and national
charity Citizens Advice. Together we help people resolve their money, legal and
other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing
policymakers. For more see the Citizens Advice website.
- The
advice provided by the Citizens Advice service is free, independent,
confidential, and impartial, and available to everyone regardless of race,
gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age or
nationality.
- To
find your local bureau in England and Wales, visit www.citizensadvice.org.uk. You can
also get advice online atwww.adviceguide.org.uk
- You
can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 08454 04
05 06 or 08454 04 05 05 for Welsh language speakers
- Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales advised 2.1
million clients on 6.6 million problems from April 2012 to March 2013. For full
2012/2013 service statistics see our quarterly publication Advice trends
- Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than
22,000 trained volunteers, working at over 3,000 service outlets across England
and Wales.