New figures from the Institute for Fiscal Studies have shown that millennials are the hardest hit from the financial crisis.
Earnings for UK employees have failed to recover since the 2008 crisis whilst GDP is just 11 percent higher, meaning “most direct effect of this has been to hit workers’ pay packets.”
“We should never stop reminding ourselves just what an astonishing decade we have just lived through, and continue to live through,” said the report.
“The UK economy has broken record after record, and not generally in a good way: record low earnings growth, record low-interest rates, record low productivity growth, record public borrowing followed by record cuts in public spending.”
“On the upside employment levels are remarkably high and, in spite of how it may feel, the gap between rich and poor has actually narrowed somewhat, but the gap between old and young has grown and grown. With public debt twice its pre-crisis level, economic growth remaining sluggish and the population ageing rapidly there will be no shortage of tough decisions over the coming decade.”
The worst hit are those in their 30s, who’s median earnings are seven percent lower than in 2008. For those in their 20s, median earnings are five percent lower.
A positive result of lower pay is the strong employment growth since 2008. The IFS has found that there are 2.7 million more people in paid work today compared to 2008 – and with the employment rate at 75.6 per cent overall, it is at the highest level ever.