Living standards continue to decline across the UK

Photograph by Helen Cobain

The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) shows little change for the people of Britain with unemployment remaining essentially flat at 7.7%, and inflation of 2.7% outpacing the slow rise in average wages.

Unemployment in Britain never rose to the dangerous levels found in Spain during the financial crisis, but they are still a long way from the five percent or less we saw before 2008. Those claiming Jobseekers allowance fell by 41,700 to 1.35 million over the last quarter, a fall of just 3%, with just under a million of young people without work.

Whilst the numbers for unemployment are travelling in the right direction, albeit very slowly, living standards continue to decline with inflation remaining at 2.7%, increasing much more rapidly than the meagre 0.7% average wage increase. Labour leader Ed Miliband described this ongoing trend as “a cost-of-living crisis in this country”, with living standards falling for 39 of the 40 months since David Cameron was elected.