In 1989, the Observer peeped into pay packets at a time when Britain was ‘more unequal than 100 years ago during the reign of Victoria’. Though the gap between high and low earners was huge, it was almost reasonable by 2024’s grotesque standards. A highest-paid jobs list topped out at £1.34m and featured famous 80s names, such as the Saatchi brothers on £650,000 each and Gerald Ratner earning £495,000.
At the other end of the wage scale, Beryl worked as a cuff-examiner in a Cornwall shirt factory, clocking on at 7.35am to inspect 27,000 cuffs a week for £95. ‘It’s hard work,’ she said. ‘You’ve got to concentrate so hard that you’re really humming by the time you get home… It drives my poor husband crazy!’ Her wages were wholly spent on ‘life’s essentials’: the mortgage and groceries. ‘We don’t drink, we don’t smoke, we don’t go out.’ The factory had just announced it was moving production to Northern Ireland, which was ‘really frightening’.
Wolverhampton hospital kitchen porter Chris worked from 7am to 4pm, cleaning (‘It’s hard work, particularly if the cooks have burned the food’) and transporting meals. From his weekly £78 take-home pay, over half went on rent and bills. ‘He hasn’t been to the pub for at least two months.’
‘We’re happy with what we’ve got,’ said Tyneside roadsweeper Alfie. After rent, his £87 a week had to cover groceries, travel, his three children’s dinner and pocket money. His wife Margaret’s part-time cleaning job paid for utilities. Alfie had managed to save £20 for Christmas (‘always hard’) and hoped to buy Margaret a new watch.
Rita, a Tesco manager in Welling with 20 years’ experience, was on £123. With three adult children still living at home, her biggest expense was food: £60-£70, even with a staff discount. They had never been abroad and her indulgences were ‘a packet of cigarettes a day and bingo on Sundays’. The chairman of Tesco, smiling beatifically down from a photo in the staff canteen, was taking home £257,000 a year.
