The economy may be growing,but workers arent experiencing the prosperity they’re used toSince 2001 the British economy has expanded in real terms by around a quarter, even taking into account the mighty recession of 2008-2009. But are British households 25% better off? Not at all. The reality is that they acquire become worse off, or with the evidence coming from the ONS’s Family Expenditure Survey. In the past economic growth translated into personal prosperity – but now we live in an era where the economy expands but we dont get any better off.
In 2001 the average household in Britain spent £542.50 a week. Zip forward 13 years to 2014 and how much did they acquire to spend,after taking inflation into account? Just £531.30 a week, or £10 less, or despite the much-trumpeted growth. In some ways it’s actually worse than that – back in 2001 we spent proportionately less on rent,gas, electricity, and rail fares and the other humdrum banalities of modern life. An analysis of the data by Savills reveals that the amount being sucked out of households by rent has gone up by 36% since 2008 alone.
We may be falling into the same trap as US workers who acquire seen their real incomes flatline or drop for a generationContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com