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Monday 24 July 2017

Low wages in the South West

Sidmouth is now one of the places where it's getting even more difficult to buy a house:
Futures Forum: "Bad news for people trying to get on the property ladder" >>> Sidmouth's property inflation rate is one of the highest in the country

Not only are local people being squeezed out because of rising prices - but their income just isn't up to it anyway:

But with inflation rising and real wages falling, many households in the region - particularly those with children - are becoming dependent on credit just to get by.

Report says Plymouth families have to rely on credit to make ends meet | Plymouth Herald

However, those living in the South West will spend the largest proportion of their salary on basic household bills at 15 per cent of their earnings over a lifetime.


We know that this has been a problem for some time now:
Cornwall is officially the poorest area in the UK | Cornwall Live
South West is the UK’s ‘low pay capital’ | Devon Live

With further warnings being made back in February of this year:
South west people need 135% salary increase to afford a home, says National Housing Federation | Devon Live

The latest research says it isn't getting any better:


One in three in Devon earn two thirds less than the average wage

By Neil_Shaw | Posted: July 20, 2017

By Debora Anu

The wage gap is growing in the South West - with almost a third of people now earning less than two-thirds of the UK average.

New figures show 31.2% of full-time employees in our region earned less than two thirds of the national average during the last quarter of 2016. That compares to just 29.3% as recently as the first quarter of 2015.

The increase is the fifth biggest for any region in the UK after the South East, the North East and Northern Ireland (with the same increase) and Wales.

The data comes from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, a major nationwide study of people's income. It also reveals that median gross weekly earnings stood at £539 for full-time employees in April 2016, up from £527 a year earlier. Median weekly earnings for full-time employees in the private sector were £517 (up 3.4% on 2015 when it was £501) while in the public sector it was £594 (up 0.7% from £589 in 2015).



One in three in Devon earn two thirds less than the average wage | Devon Live
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