In the UK, a drop in wages since mid-2010 has been 5.5% down adjusted for inflation. The worse results were noted in Greece, Portugal, and the Netherlands, as BBC reported on August 11 citing the research by the House of Common’s Library.
For comparison, wages in troublesome Spain and Cyprus have been curtailed by 3.3% and 3% respectively. Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron’s critics highlight that an average wage rate has been declining in the course of 35 months at a stretch. The non-partisan Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that by 2015, the tangible annual incomes of the population will have fallen by £1,520 due to wages reduction versus 2010.
Besides, the economists notice that Germany is enjoying the most favorable situation where labor payment rates have grown by 2.7% for the recession period. In addition, a remuneration rise by 0.4% has been recorded in France. However, such good results in Germany and France were not able to overcome the negative trend in the whole EU where wages and salaries have been lowered by 0.7% on average. The drop in wages has equaled 0.1% in 18 EU’s countries.
According to the figures from the European Trade Union Institute, a wage rate in Greece was down 6.67%, in Portugal – down 4.47%, and in the Netherlands – down 0.26% for the period from 2008 till 2012. In the UK, a wage rate lessened by 0.99% for the four recession years.