And a local food bank has said that the number of people in work but who still require its help is increasing.
New figures released by the States Statistics Unit this morning show that wages have gone up by 2.6 per cent in the last 12 months – leaving a real-term increase of 0.1 per cent after inflation is taken into account.
Those working in the public sector are statistically less well off than they were this time last year amid States cuts to public services. While they have seen an average 1.6 per cent wage rise, an inflation rate of 2.5 per cent means that they have seen a real-term decrease in their wages of 0.9 per cent.
And almost two-thirds of Islanders are earning less than the average £730 a week – the equivalent of a £37,960 annual salary.
Deputy Geoff Southern said that the Council of Ministers had failed to address an economic system in which ‘the richer get richer and the poorer get poorer’.
He said: ‘It is a failing economic policy. The median wage [£530 a week] is the halfway mark. If you look at the the average then what you have got is a hump at the high end dragging the average up.
‘The gap between the rich and the poor is certainly growing. There are plenty of people out there in work and also getting income support and having their low wages topped up by the taxpayer who are struggling to make ends meet.’
He added that the figures gave further credence to calls for the introduction of a living wage.
‘What the living wage can do is transfer the burden from the taxpayer onto the employer, which is how it should be,’ he said. ‘If we have a regime that is quite happy to take £10 million out of income support, out of that safety net, then that is a set of ministers who do not care.
‘When inflation is factored in, wages have gone up by 0.1 per cent. What I think we are going to see as Brexit gets closer is a weakening in the pound and therefore a rise in inflation, and once again that will hit the lowest earners the most.’
The figures showed that finance workers earned the most on average – £1,000 per week – while those working in hotels, restaurants and bars were taking home around £400 per week.
Vini Jones, deputy manager at food bank The Grace Trust, said that the charity was seeing a lot of people in work who needed help.
He said: ‘We were hoping that we would see fewer people this year but we haven’t. If anything there is a slight increase.
‘With the cost of rent and the cost of living, the wages for a lot of people don’t get very far. We are coming across a lot
of folk that are in work but are still
finding themselves short at the end of the month.
‘There are plenty of people out there who want to work and want to break even, but sometimes they can’t.’
Meanwhile, those in the public sector saw the smallest percentage rise in their wages of 1.6 per cent – 0.9 per cent less than the inflation rate.
A States spokesman said: ‘The results show that, in real terms, we are meeting our stated objective of reducing public sector staff costs while continuing to reward expertise. More broadly, earnings in the private sector have remained above inflation for the fifth year in a row.’
lIslanders react: Page 2
