Rookie nurses have suffered a £3,800 real terms pay cut over the past 15 years, research reveals today.
Wage hikes for newly-qualified nurses have failed to keep pace with inflation to such an extent that salaries have been slashed during the last decade-and-a-half, according to the New Economics Foundation.
It calculates they are “unable to afford the cost of essentials like putting food on the table or replacing clothes by over £1,450 a month from next April”.
If pay rises by 5.5% in 2023/24, newly-qualified nurses are set to receive a real terms pay cut of between £3,000 and £3,800, compared with 2008/09, the NEF says.
Its analysis uses the minimum income standard which is used for the Real Living Wage rate paid voluntarily by thousands of firms.
Research shows the MIS will climb by 11.3% from April - and the NEF claims that a nurse with two children in London will be unable to afford the cost of living by £1,450 a month, climbing to £1,650 in a typical “Red Wall” seat such as Bolsover, Notts, and £1,750 in a southern Tory heartland such as North West Somerset.
It demands a fresh support package from April to help families battle the cost-of-living crisis, including “a new free energy entitlement for all families, a temporary £750 universal payment and a permanent £1,000 boost to means-tested benefits”.
The Foundation’s head of economics Jeevun Sandher said: “People across the country are feeling the squeeze.
“Whether it’s putting the heating on or doing the weekly shop, families are having to make impossible sacrifices on life’s essentials.
“Instead of prioritising real support for people, this Government is set to repeat the same failed economic policy of the last decade that has made us poorer, sicker and less safe.
“We need a proper long-term plan for a new economy that works for people by putting more money into struggling families’ pockets, investing in people and places to level up the country, creating more affordable social housing, and investing in renewables and home insulation to keep our emissions and energy bills low for good.”
A Treasury spokeswoman said: “Countries around the world are facing rising costs, driven by Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine, and we know this is affecting people here in the UK.
“The Government’s Energy Price Guarantee will save the typical household around £700 this winter - reducing bills by roughly a third.
“In addition, we have provided at least an extra £1,200 of cost-of-living support to eight million of the most vulnerable households.
"We've also reversed the rise in national insurance contributions and made changes to Universal Credit to help working households keep more of what they earn.”
A Government spokesman added: “As part of our £37billion support package we are also allowing people on Universal Credit to keep £1,000 more of what they earn, while vulnerable families in England are being supported by the Government’s Household Support Fund – which was boosted by £500million - to help pay for essentials.”
Crisis-hit NHS in recruitment drive
The stark warning comes as the crisis-hit NHS today launches its annual drive to recruit more nurses as it tries to fill tens of thousands of vacancies.
England’s Chief Nurse Ruth May urged people to join the “life-changing profession” where.
The campaign comes as staff brace for a busy winter with the combined impact of flu, Covid and record vacancies set to hammer the service, while the number of people waiting for NHS care has hit a record 6.73 million.
Announcing the We Are The NHS recruitment drive, Ms May said: “From life-saving tests and checks and delivering millions of Covid and flu vaccinations to getting people back on their feet as the NHS cuts 18-month waits and cares for the thousands of seriously ill patients in hospitals and across our communities, nurses play a vital role.
“As we approach the winter months and NHS services gear up to manage higher demand, it’s clear the difference that nurses make to the health service every day, and I urge anyone considering a career where they want to really make a difference to find out more.
“I am so proud to be a nurse in the NHS and so proud of every single colleague who has risen to the challenges facing the health service in recent years to continue to deliver the very best care to patients and their families.
“It truly is one of the most rewarding jobs you can do.”
NHS England said recruitment drives have helped increase the number of applicants to healthcare degrees in recent years, with the number of undergraduate nurses climbing from 40,770 to 52,150 since 2019.
Figures show there more than 1.3 million people work for the NHS - a rise of almost 30,000 since June 2020, NHS England said.
The drive comes after analysis last month showed record numbers of nurses quitting.
More than 40,000 have left the health service in the past year - one in nine of the workforce, according to the Nuffield Trust think tank.
