UK living standards have fallen behind those of other industrialised countries
The Tories harp on a lot about ‘levelling up’ and equality of opportunity, yet the facts and evidence show that if anything they have widened inequality, not only within the country, but also between the UK and other comparable countries.
UK living standards have fallen behind those of other industrialised countries. According to the OECD the UK economy will be the worst performer out of the G7, with the country’s projected 0.2% decline in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2023 making it the second-worst performer out of the world’s 20 biggest economies.
The Financial Times reports that according to Jumana Saleheen, chief economist at Vanguard Europe, on three key measures of living standards, household income, gross domestic product per capita and real wages, the UK has “seen stagnation over the last 15 years”.
Data from the ONS shows that average UK real household income is unchanged since 2007, just before the banking crisis and according to OECD data, while household income per capita across OECD countries increased by 20 per cent between the first quarter of 2007 and the third quarter of 2022, it only rose by 6 per cent in the UK.
The damning graph below shows how the growth in UK real wages has been significantly slower than in other countries.
No wonder so many are left with no option but to go on strike to demand better pay and conditions.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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