Report suggests pay for under-40s is '11% lower than before financial crisis'

03 Jul 2017

Typical hourly pay for UK workers aged under 40 is at least 11% lower than before the 2008 financial crisis, a report published by the Resolution Foundation has suggested.

Hourly pay for employees aged between 22 and 39 was down by 11% during its peak, compared to -5% for workers in their 50s and -2% for workers in their 60s.  

Average weekly earnings fell by 0.4% during the first three months of this year, the report also revealed.

However, the Foundation predicts that the current pay squeeze will be ‘shallower and shorter’ than the significant fall that followed the financial crisis.

Stephen Clarke, Economic Analyst at the Resolution Foundation, commented: ‘The pay squeeze made an unwelcome return at the start of 2017 and looks set to stay with us for the rest of the year at least.

‘The wages of younger workers and those living in London are still more than 10% lower than they were back in 2008, and this latest squeeze means it will take many more years for their earnings to fully recover.’