Real wages and living standards: the latest UK evidence

Since the global financial crisis, workers’ real wages and family living standards in the UK have suffered to an extent unprecedented in modern history. Real wages of the typical (median) worker have fallen by almost 10 per cent since 2008; and real family incomes for families of working age by almost the same. In this article, part of CEP’s Election Analysis, Stephen Machin discusses what has happened to real wages and family incomes, and links the patterns of change to the current policy debate.