Workers In Our Region Worse Off Financially

Workers in Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire are now £50 a week worse off.

That's according to new figures released by the TUC union today.

They've revealed average wages fell by £550 pounds last year.

It means the average full-time employee wage in the region has now fallen by over £2,000 since 2010.

The union has now launched a campaign calling for a higher minimum wage as part of Fair Pay Fortnight.

Mum Heidi Thistlewood works over 40 hours a week but still struggles to make ends meet. She told Viking FM:

"I pretty much have to save for everything which I know everybody does generally but to say the hours that I work, you don't expect to have to save for three months just to carpet your living room which I have just had to do. Then I have to tell my son that he has to wait for things until I know what bills come in. It's not nice saying you're going to have to wait for a pair of shoes because I don't have the money right now.

"Sometimes my son has come home with two knees missing out of his trousers and I've had to go and borrow money because I couldn't possibly send my son to school like that. There's your food, heating, gas and electric and that goes up every year but wages don't."

TUC Yorkshire and the Humber Regional Secretary Bill Adams said:

“Despite growth returning, 2014 was another miserable year for living standards in Yorkshire and the Humber with real wages falling by over £550 in real terms.

“Even though inflation has fallen sharply in recent months, it is still going to take years for people’s earnings just to recover to their pre-recession levels.

“It is different story though for those at the top. Senior City executives have seen a huge boost in their fortunes since the election as their wages have skyrocketed.

“This is why we are organising Fair Pay Fortnight, to raise awareness about pay inequality and to call for a sustainable recovery in which everybody shares.”