Workers in Nottingham earn £100 less than the national average every week, a situation labelled 'deeply concerning' by city leaders. The ONS data means, on average, people in the city are more than £5,000 worse off than their national counterparts every year.
The Office for National Statistics data found the gross median weekly pay for someone in Nottingham was £433.10 in 2022. The national figure is £536.60.
Additionally, people in Nottingham also earn less on a weekly basis than all other parts of Nottinghamshire. The next lowest amounts were a weekly average of £456.60 in Bassetlaw, £477 in Gedling and £480.10 in Ashfield. All are significantly lower than the £556.40 earned on a weekly average by people in Broxtowe or £552.80 in Rushcliffe.
Similarly, people in Mansfield earned £484 on average in a week, and those in Newark and Sherwood made £498.90. Donna Cumberlidge, Chief Officer at Citizens Advice Nottingham & District, explained that over the past financial year (April 2022 to March 2023) 8,800 clients had been assisted, a rise of ten percent.
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The organisation also had a 143 percent increase in advising clients about utility bills, an 80 percent increase in advice on debt, and a 49 percent increase in guidance on Universal Credit.
Ms Cumberlidge said: “Due to pressures from limited income, increases in the costs of life essentials such as food, energy and housing we are helping more and more people. The demand for support with charitable support, utility bills, debt and benefits have all increased significantly in the last year.”
She explained that the cost of living crisis is squeezing the income that households do own, with many in the private sector having their rent increased and the maximum amount of help available through benefits for those on a low income in the private sector being frozen since April 2020. The organisation had also seen a 213 percent rise in offering advise about charitable support or foodbanks in this year.
New figures released by the Trussell Trust reveal 172, 680 emergency food parcels were provided to people facing hardship in the East Midlands between April 2022 and March 2023, and 65,164 of these were provided for children. This is the most parcels food banks in the Trussell Trust network in East Midlands have ever distributed in a single year, representing a 34 percent increase compared to last year.
Speaking about the rising need for emergency food, Emma Revie, Chief Executive at the Trussell Trust, said: “These new statistics are extremely concerning and show that an increasing number of people in the East Midlands are being left with no option but to turn to charitable, volunteer-run organisations to get by and this is not right. The continued increase in parcel numbers over the last five years indicates that it is ongoing low levels of income and a social security system that isn’t fit for purpose that are forcing more people to access food banks, rather than just the recent cost of living crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Food banks were set up to provide short-term support to people in an emergency, they are not a lasting solution to hunger and poverty, and more than three quarters of the UK population agree with us that they should not need to exist."
Regarding the ONS statistics showing Nottingham residents earned less than the national average last year, MP Lilian Greenwood, who represents Nottingham North, said: "It is deeply concerning to read the ONS findings that the weekly take home pay of residents in our city was below the national and Nottinghamshire averages in 2022. I know that hard-working families in Nottingham are finding it increasingly hard to make ends meet with flatlining wages, surging household bills and increasing taxes – by an average of £650 per household this year alone - piling pressure on their finances.
"The wages of the workers in our city and our country are being held back by this Conservative Government’s mismanagement of our economy. Our country is the only G7 nation still poorer than before the COVID-19 pandemic and the UK is forecast to have the lowest growth of any advanced economy over the next two years."
She continued: "Our economy has been forced into a vicious Tory circle of higher taxes, lower investment, squeezed wages and the running down of our public services. We need to break free from this stagnation with a proper plan to get our economy and people’s wages growing again, powered by the talent and effort of millions of working people and thousands of businesses.
"A Labour Government would deliver a fairer, greener, and more dynamic economy, creating jobs across the country in renewables, nuclear power and insulating our homes.” Similarly, MP Nadia Whittome, representing Nottingham East, stated: "This data underlines that people in Nottingham are at the sharp end of the cost-of-living crisis. With lower-than-average wages, many of the households I represent are struggling to cope with astronomical rises in prices and bills."
Regarding the data, a government spokesperson explained that the National Living Wage had recently been increased by the largest amount since it was created. The National Minimum Wage for workers aged 21-22 has increased by £1 from £9.18 to £10.18, whilst the minimum wage for 21- and 22-year-olds is 52 percent higher than the 2015 rate of £6.70.
A Government spokesperson said: “This year’s increase in the National Living Wage is the largest since its introduction, up 9.7 percent to £10.42 for workers aged 23 and above. The increase for younger workers on the National Minimum Wage will be worth £1,600 more for those working full-time, and we’re on track to add those over 21 to the living wage next year.”
It is understood that the increases to the National Minimum Wage rates will help protect the incomes of 2.9 million low-paid workers against price increases.
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