Here is another report which divides young and old. According to the study `The State of Living Standards` by the think-tank Resolution Foundation, young people and working families have seen their incomes fall in real terms compared with a decade ago while average pensioner households have enjoyed an 18% rise. The trend is set to continue, as further cuts to working-age benefits come into force in the next few years, while pensions are protected.
The findings will highlight how falling real wages combined with political decisions about who should benefit from public spending have created a sharp divide across age groups, with the young faring worst and pensioners the best.
The RF report – the first of its type to look at inter-generational income patterns across the last decade – finds that the typical income of pensioner households grew from £313 a week in 2001-2 (at 2011-12 prices) to £370 in 2011-12, representing an 18% rise. By contrast, the weekly income of a couple without children in a median working-age household fell slightly from £453 (in 2001-2) to £445 in 2011-12, despite GDP growth of almost 10% over the decade.
For young people, the fall in real wages was even more acute. Between 2001 and 2011, median weekly wages for 18-21 year olds fell by 21.7%, and for 22-29 year olds by 7.6%
James Plunkett, director of policy at the RF, said that while many pensioners were still hard up, and their incomes remained on average below those of working-age families, they had enjoyed a recent good run that looked set to continue.
The report goes on to remind us that further cuts and more austerity is on its way. But isn`t that the problem, and the fact that there is no real recovery in terms of jobs which offer a living wage for young people and families?
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/feb/09/pensioners-thrive-while-working-families-and-young-suffer
No comments:
Post a Comment