The debate on decades of stagnant incomes for the bottom 90% – even when the economy grows – is heating up

Chris gets shown round the workplace...

SOURCE BBC NEWS: Are we really any better off than we were?
The government has released figures which claim to show that real take-home pay has increased for most people in the last year. They are using the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), which shows that take-home pay between April 2012 and April 2013 outstripped inflation for most people. But as well as producing its Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, the Office of National Statistics produces figures for average weekly earnings. Whereas ASHE is a once-a-year survey, weekly earnings figures are produced every month. They are taken from a much smaller survey sample, but they are more up to date. The latest figures actually show that earnings increased by just 0.9%, between the autumn of 2012 and the autumn of 2013. That is well below the rate of inflation.

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