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UNIONS are accusing the Conservatives of presiding over the worst period for living standards in modern history.
An analysis by the TUC suggested that by the end of this Parliament, household disposable incomes will have fallen for nearly half of the time the Conservatives have been in office.
By the date of the next general election, household disposable income will have fallen for six of the 14 years the Conservatives have been in power, the union organisation predicts.
The TUC said the current squeeze on family budgets is the longest and deepest since records began in the 1950s.
Between 1955-6 and 2009-10, household disposable incomes fell just six times – the equivalent of around once every nine years, according to the TUC analysis.
But between 2010-11 and 2023-4, household disposable incomes are on course to fall nearly once every two years.
Pay failing to keep up with inflation has been key in driving down income, it added.
The TUC says urgent action is needed to boost wages across the economy and warned years of pay stagnation have pushed families across Britain to the brink.
The government was urged to resolve the current pay disputes in the public sector and increase the minimum wage to £15 an hour.
A ban on zero-hours contracts to help end the scourge of insecure work and increasing universal credit to 80 per cent of the real living wage were also demanded.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Everyone who works for a living deserves to earn a decent living but working people are suffering the longest squeeze on wages in more than the 200 years.
“This has decimated household budgets and pushed many families to breaking point.
“By the time of the next election, pay packets will still be worth less than in 2008 — that is a shameful record for the government.
“The Conservatives are presiding over the worst period for living standards in modern history.
“The time for excuses is over. Ministers must get pay rising across the economy.
“That means a decent pay deal for all our public servants. It means working with unions on sector-wide fair pay agreements, starting with social care and the ferries sector and it means raising the minimum wage to £15 an hour as soon as possible.”
