New figures which show the North East has the lowest average earnings of any region in the UK have outlined the challenges facing the region’s economy.
The figures compiled by the TUC show that people in the region on average earn 7% less than the UK median wage, the equivalent of £40 a week. That figure is even worse in areas such as Sunderland, Gateshead and Northumberland, with only the average wage in North Tyneside being above the national median.
Data on low pay and high levels of part-time work goes some way to explaining why the North East economy is still foundering despite record low levels of unemployment in the North East. At the same time that unemployment has fallen to 3.6% - the lowest since records began, and lower than many other regions - figures last month showed that 35% of children in the region are growing up in poverty, despite most of them being in working households.
Read more: record unemployment figures in North East
Separate figures released last week by the Trussell Trust - which represents food banks around the country - suggested that 26% of people in the North East are living in food insecurity, significantly higher than all other regions.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Everyone who works for a living deserves to earn a decent living. But pay in the North East is the worst of any UK region. 13 years of wage stagnation have taken a devastating toll on family budgets. So it’s no surprise that workers are having to take strike action to defend their living standards – especially with bills skyrocketing.
“Any sensible Government would be working with unions to boost pay and conditions throughout the North East and the UK. But instead, ministers are railroading through parliament new anti-strike legislation that will make it harder for people to win a fair deal at work.”
The TUC said the average weekly wage in the UK was £517.50, with people in London on average taking home the much higher level of £634.30. In the North East, the average weekly wage was £479.10, with wages still worth less in the region than they were in 2010 when adjusted for inflation.
In what has been seen as a reaction to the cost-of-living pressures, people around the UK took record amounts out of bank accounts in May, withdrawing £4.6bn from banks and building societies.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has urged people to “hold our nerve” with rising interest rates and said “there is no alternative” to stamping out inflation. The Bank of England issued its 13th interest rate hike in a row last month following an unexpected rise in inflation to 8.7%.
But despite a number of strikes in the public and private sectors, the Prime Minister has hinted that he might not accept recommendations from public pay bodies if he thinks pay awards are not affordable.
