The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is putting significant pressure on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to deliver what it terms a 'living standards budget' this Wednesday, aiming to alleviate the financial strain on working households after more than a decade of pay stagnation.
The Tory Pay Hangover
According to stark analysis from the union body, working people across the UK are, on average, just £12 a week better off now than they were back in 2008. The TUC attributes this dire situation to a 'painful Tory pay hangover' resulting from years of negligible wage growth under the Conservative government.
The research reveals that between May 2010 and April 2024, real wages grew at a paltry average of just 0.04% per year. For public service workers, the situation was even bleaker, with no real wage increase at all over that entire period.
The TUC calculated that had wage growth continued at the pre-2010 rate seen between 2000 and 2008, the average worker would today be earning a staggering £317 more per week.
Urgent Calls for Government Action
Paul Nowak, the TUC's General Secretary, stated that the upcoming budget represents a 'crucial moment to show ministers are on the side of working people'. He emphasised that households nationwide are still reeling from the long-term effects of stagnant incomes, leaving the new Labour government with substantial ground to recover.
Nowak urged the Chancellor to 'show ambition on the minimum wage' and take decisive action in three key areas:
- Substantially increasing the national minimum wage.
- Implementing measures to bring down soaring energy bills.
- Scrapping the controversial two-child benefit cap in full.
Tackling the Child Poverty Emergency
The TUC is also demanding that the budget directly confronts what it describes as a 'child poverty emergency'. This call is backed by new Survation polling commissioned by the TUC, which found that 83% of the public agree that no child should be living in poverty in the UK.
These union demands come amidst renewed pressure from business groups for the government to reconsider its plans on employment rights. Pre-budget reports suggest Chancellor Reeves is indeed preparing to announce a lifting of the two-child benefit cap, signalling a potential move towards addressing the unions' core concerns.
