Pay inequality has soared across London and the South East since 2000
24 Mar 2014 02:36 PM
Wage
inequality has soared across London and the South East over the last 13 years
according to new TUC analysis published today (Monday) to coincide with the
beginning of the TUC’s first Fair Pay Fortnight which runs until Sunday 6
April 2014.
The figures
– based on full-time earnings from the Annual Survey of Hours and
Earnings (ASHE) – show that between 2000 (when the data was first
collected) and 2013 the pay gap between the top 10 per cent and the bottom 10
per cent of earners in London rose by 14 per cent. This is far higher than the
national average rise in the pay gap of five per cent over the same
period.
A similar picture
emerges in the South East where the gap between those on the 90th
and 10th percentile of earnings has grown by nine per cent since
2000. The Midlands has also witnessed a significant pay gap increase over the
last 13 years, with the pay gap increasing by seven per cent in the West
Midlands and by five per cent in the East Midlands.
The TUC analysis
reveals that across most of the rest of the country the pay inequality ratio is
also rising – up by four per cent between 2000 and 2013 in the North
West, three per cent in the East of England, and two per cent in Scotland and
the North East.
Only Wales and the
South West have seen pay inequality reduce over the last 13 years. However the
TUC believes this is more down to top earners not doing as well as in other
parts of the UK, rather than those at the bottom getting a better
deal.
Comparing the pay
gap between the top 90 per cent of earners and those earning a median wage
paints a similar picture of rising wage inequality. By this measure inequality
has risen by 4.5 per cent across the UK, with the largest rise (8.5 per
cent) in London.
The TUC research
also reveals how much the top 10 per cent of earners across the UK bring home
and how their salaries vary greatly. The highest top earners are in London
where they receive £82,000 a year, followed by those in the South East
who are on £57,000 and the East of England where they earn about
£52,000 per annum.
In contrast, an
annual salary of about £46,000 puts workers in the top 10 per cent of
earners in Yorkshire and the Humber and £45,000 makes the top 10 per cent
in the North East. But it is in Wales where the top earners command the least,
about £43,000 a year – nearly half of what those in London are
taking home.
Workers on the
bottom 10th percentile in London will be earning less than
£18,000 a year, less than £15,400 in the South East and less than
£14,800 per annum in the rest of England, Scotland and Wales.
TUC General
Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “This new analysis
shows how wage inequality has soared in parts of the UK over the last decade.
This growing pay gap is bad news for our economy and bad news for living
standards.
“The picture
is particularly bleak in London and the South East, but in areas like the
Midlands, the North West and the East of England a significant gulf has
developed between top and bottom earners. Unless this trend stops now and more
high-skilled jobs with decent pay are created, this worrying pattern is likely
to become even more entrenched.
“Everyone
must benefit from the recovery, not just those at the top. The TUC wants to see
a greater commitment to pay the living wage from both government and employers,
a crackdown on excessive executive pay, and modern wages councils which could
set higher minimum wages where employers can afford to pay more.
“During Fair
Pay Fortnight we’re asking workers to back our call to MPs to get all
political parties to put decent pay at the top of their agendas in the run up
to the election.”
NOTES TO
EDITORS:
- Working people
in the UK are seeing their living standards squeezed harder and
harder every year, and to highlight this the TUC is organising Fair Pay
Fortnight from today (Monday) to a week on Sunday (6 April 2014).
- The Fortnight is
part of the TUC’s Britain Needs a Pay Rise campaign and will
feature a series of events across England and Wales to raise awareness about
low pay, pay inequality and falling living standards. For more information
please visit www.fairpayfortnight.org<
/p>
Pay
inequality by region and nation, 2000-13
Nation/ region
|
10th percentile salary
2000
|
90th percentile
salary
2000
|
‘Pay inequality ratio’
2000
|
10th percentile salary
2013
|
90th percentile
salary
2013
|
‘Pay inequality ratio’
2013
|
Change in inequality ratio between
2000-2013
|
United
Kingdom
|
10,307
|
35,863
|
3.5
|
14,678
|
53,720
|
3.7
|
5.2%
|
London
|
12,967
|
51,797
|
4.0
|
17,938
|
81,797
|
4.6
|
14.2%
|
South
East
|
11,192
|
38,578
|
3.4
|
15,309
|
57,490
|
3.8
|
8.9%
|
West
Midlands
|
10,063
|
32,213
|
3.2
|
14,066
|
48,022
|
3.4
|
6.7%
|
East
Midlands
|
9,667
|
31,065
|
3.2
|
14,000
|
47,339
|
3.4
|
5.2%
|
North
West
|
10,000
|
31,864
|
3.2
|
14,257
|
47,141
|
3.3
|
3.8%
|
East
|
10,521
|
36,297
|
3.4
|
14,524
|
51,833
|
3.6
|
3.4%
|
Scotland
|
10,117
|
33,160
|
3.3
|
14,787
|
49,585
|
3.4
|
2.3%
|
North
East
|
9,706
|
31,039
|
3.2
|
13,806
|
45,151
|
3.3
|
2.3%
|
Yorkshire and the Humber
|
9,746
|
30,996
|
3.2
|
14,132
|
45,633
|
3.2
|
1.5%
|
Wales
|
9,797
|
30,270
|
3.1
|
14,092
|
43,240
|
3.1
|
-0.7%
|
South
West
|
9,799
|
32,843
|
3.4
|
14,496
|
48,016
|
3.3
|
-1.2%
|
Source: ASHE
2000 and 2013
- The pay
inequality ratio is the number of times more the highest earners are paid
compared to the lowest earners.
- The data has
been taken from ASHE and the ratios calculated for
90th/10th decile and 90th/median decile in
2000 and 2013. The ‘change in inequality ratio’ column in the above
table shows the percentage change between these two pay gaps.
- All TUC press
releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk
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