In the coverage of Ed Miliband’s recent speech at Newham Dockside, the sections of the speech on employment sadly received scant media coverage. The press focused instead on welfare and benefits.
In the lead up to the G8 summit in Belfast this week, two narratives have featured heavily in the media’s coverage of the organisational build up: the pre-summit wrangling over Syria and the anti-capitalist protesters who’ve been causing a ‘scene’ in various symbolically ‘neo-liberal’ locations.
Is there no alternative for the members of the Co-operative other than a demutualisation? Must they stand back and let the stock market decide whether basic bank accounts, prisoner bank accounts, and the back office for credit unions, be assessed on the basis of return on capital rather than return to community?
Today’s figures should open up debate on how to reform the current system of tax credits and benefits. What is clear is that more needs to be done to address the growing number of people who are actively contributing to society but yet are finding it increasingly difficult just to get by.
Average incomes have fallen for the second successive year, leaving median and mean incomes six per cent and seven per cent below their 2009 and 2010 peaks, according to government figures released today.
Today’s employment figures include a couple of headlines the government will be grateful for and what seems like an improvement on the pay front. But when you look at the labour market from a slightly longer perspective, the picture is less brilliant.
The annual Manifest/MM&K executive director Total Remuneration survey was released this week, finding that take home pay for the average FTSE 100 CEO was up to £4.3 million in 2012, an increase of 10 per cent on the previous year.
Unemployment decreased by 5,000 between February 2013 and April 2013 to 2.51 million, with the unemployment rate rising to 7.8 per cent, today’s labour market statistics reveal.
The idea that social security spending got out of control under Labour isn’t really backed up by Department of Work and Pensions evidence.
Older people should of course expect a decent standard of living in retirement. But should they really expect a standard of living which outpaces that of the average worker, especially when the cost of proving it is likely to mean further cuts elsewhere in the welfare budget down the line?
