Most UK workers are worse off than they were a decade ago but bankers are taking home more than £100 a week extra (Picture: PA)

The average UK worker is earning £17 less a week than they did a decade ago, with public servants being the worst hit, a new study has suggested.

But bankers and others working in the finance sector are earning a lot more – taking home an extra £120 a week than they were in 2009, said the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

Meanwhile, nurses and teachers are among the hardest hit workers, with those employed in health, social work and education earning £36 a week less than they did 10 years ago, the research indicated.

The TUC said it wasn’t fair that bankers and the ‘architects of the financial crisis’ are earning more, while public servants are ‘struggling to get by’.




Average real pay in the financial sector has increased by 9.3 per cent – £119 per week – since 2009, reaching a record income average of £1,405, said the TUC.

Those working in the finance sector saw a huge increase while health and education workers have been the worst hit (Picture: Getty)

The organisation said it was a clear consequence of the Government’s decision to ‘hold back’ the pay of teachers, nurses and other public servants behind rising prices.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: ‘It’s not right that pay is racing ahead in the City when most working people are still worse off than a decade ago.

‘The architects of the financial crisis are earning record amounts while teachers and nurses struggle to get by.

‘Workers deserve a much fairer share of the wealth they create. That’s why unions need new rights to access workplaces and negotiate industry-wide rates.

‘Pay inequality helped drive the last financial crash. It can’t be left unaddressed.’

It was also found that wages are worth less than they were before the financial crisis a decade ago but a small number of industries have managed to buck that trend, added the union.

Other sectors such as retail and hospitality have seen wage growth, which the report said was likely to have been boosted by minimum wage increases.

Got a story for Metro.co.uk? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.