Christmas workers are earning less than a decade ago
By Caoimhe Toman
Date: Wednesday 20 Dec 2017
(ShareCast News) - The TUC has carried out analysis looking into the wages of those people working on Christmas day over the past decade.
Most of them will be worse off than ten years ago, the study concluded, and there were no signs of improvement for 2018.
The Government's Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings showed that the average wages of Christmas workers fell in the past few years.
Indeed, somewhat surprisingly people working in the government's public sector like police officers and nurses were hit the hardest.
Nurses saw their earnings drop by £29 a week with some of them affected so badly that they were reliant on food banks and were at risk of joining the ranks of the homeless.
The private sector was also struggling though. Carers had to get by on £286 a week (reduction of £21 in the last ten years) and Westminster had recently suspended enforcement of the minimum wage for carers who stay overnight.
Waiters, cleaners and bar staff did particularly poorly from the drop in salaries, with bar staff seeing a reduction of £51 a month in the past decade.
Chefs and kitchen staff on the other hand enjoyed a monthly rise, although their wages were still behind those of the average worker in the UK; for example, kitchen assistants were on around £200 a week, well under half the national average.
Frances O'Grady, TUC general secretary, said: "While many of us are tucking in to the turkey, the UK's Christmas workforce will be hard at work keeping vital services running. But their wages are worth even less than they were a decade ago."
Growing wages were an exception and according to the OECD, in 2018 UK wage growth was set to be the smallest from amongst the rest of advanced economies.
The Chartered Institute on Personnel and Development have also issued a similar forecast for 2018.
Their prediction was that only a drop in inflation would lead to a noticeable wage growth, also they are concerned that there are not enough people to fill jobs and finally they are also concerned on the levels of productivity.
Ian Brinkley, Acting Chief Economist at the CIPD, said: "In 2017 we saw record-high employment but a big squeeze on household budgets; the next 12 months looks to be a case of more of the same. With Brexit negotiations entering their next crucial phase, all eyes will be on the ability of the Government to ensure employers can access the skills and workers the economy needs."
Brinkley also said the squeeze on wages was not likely to end soon and even if there is a pay rise it wouldn't compensate the falls of the past decade: "Most employers can't afford to or don't feel the need to make an above-inflation pay rise. People hoping to see more money in their pocket in 2018 should hope inflation returns to nearer its 2% target, a level it is predicted to be approaching at the end of 2018."
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