Londoners on Millenium Bridge
(Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)Workers in London and the South East have seen the biggest falls in Britain in real annual wages in the last 12 years, according to a new analysis.
It shows that between 2010 and 2022, average pay fell in the capital by six per cent or £2,663, taking into account inflation, during this period which included major economic blows including Brexit and the Covid pandemic which hit the city particularly hard.
Only the South East saw a bigger drop, of seven per cent, £2,725, in the painful cost-of-living squeeze.
A five per cent decline happened in the Eastern region (around £1,900), North West (£1,600), Yorkshire and the Humber (£1,500), and East Midlands (also £1,500).
Pay was three per cent down in the West Midlands (£1,000) and the North East (£900).
A two per cent drop was seen in Scotland (£800), the South West (£600) and Wales (also £600).
The figures were compiled by Labour, from data published by the Office for National Statistics, as it sought to highlight the hit to pay since the Conservatives took power in 2010.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “These figures show the complete failure over 12 years to build an economy that actually works in the interests of working people.”
However, ministers have rejected accusations of economic mismanagement, stressing the unprecedented Covid pandemic, Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine which has been heavily blamed for inflation sky-rocketing, with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt admitting Brexit has had “costs”.
The detailed figures also revealed the scale of the wealth divide in London.
Five constituencies in the capital had median average salaries, the wage in the middle if they were all put in one line, of more than £40,000 in 2022.
The highest was in Tooting at £45,738, followed by Richmond Park £43,982, Cities of London and Westminster £43,304, Old Bexley and Sidcup £41,136, and Battersea £40,016.
There were no figures for some constituencies due to sampling factors, such as affluent Chelsea and Fulham, and while the ONS says the published data is “acceptable” it has a significant margin of potential error.
The wealth gap was further highlighted between differences in some constituencies between the median average salary and the mean, which is total wages divided by the number of workers.
Mean average wages can be particularly influenced by a small number of extremely well paid individuals.
The most stark illustration published by the ONS was in Battersea where the median was £40,016, but the mean £71,946, with the respective difference for full-time workers in this constituency being £47,185 compared to £83,244.
The lowest median average, the preferred measurement of the ONS, in London was for all workers was £25,661 in Edmonton, followed by Ealing North £26,986, Mitcham and Morden £27,146, and Dagenham and Rainham £27,163.
