Between 2009-10 and 2022-23, the average disposable income of UK workers increased by just 6%, despite high employment growth and significant tax cuts for middle-income earners.
British living standards are at the “bottom of the league” compared to most developed countries as slow wage growth fails to offset the impact of high taxes and mortgages.
Young doctors go on strike to demand higher wages.
According to data released by the UK's Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) on May 31, when comparing data from 2009-2010 and 2022-2023, the average disposable income of British workers increased by only 6%, despite high employment growth and significant tax reductions for middle-income earners.
The main reason for this is sluggish wage growth. Compared to the 2009-10 financial year, average earnings in 2023-24 will increase by just 3.5% after inflation. In the period before the global financial crisis, it took the British people less than two years to achieve this growth rate.
Of the 14 countries the IFS collected data for its study, the growth rate of British workers’ earnings between 2007 and 2019 was just half that of the 12% in the US, far behind the 16% increase in Germany and just ahead of the growth rate of working-age incomes in France, Spain and Greece.
Despite wage growth in the UK outpacing inflation, the average household's disposable income has remained largely unchanged since 2019, the IFS said. This is due to rising mortgage payments combined with recent tax rises for some groups and weaker employment.
After enjoying the strongest growth in workers' incomes in the 12 years to 2007, Britain has now fallen to the bottom of the table, with income growth slowing for everyone, rich and poor, young and old, according to Tom Waters, deputy director of the IFS.
Notably, when comparing the two financial years 2009-2010 and 2022-2023, due to high tax rates, income growth of high-income households is even worse than that of middle-income households.
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