Average UK worker has seen 2p pay rise in two years, while richest have seen faster increase Meanwhile other workers have seen the biggest squeeze on wages since the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

The UK’s highest earners have seen the biggest increase in pay over the past two years, the TUC have said.

Pay for the 1 per cent of top earners – those earning £63 an hour or more or above £2300 for a full time week – rose by 7.6 per cent between 2016 and 2018.

In contrast, the average pay for UK workers is still worth less in real terms than the before the financial crisis.

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The typical worker wage has only grown by 0.1 per cent over the same period, rising by just 2p from £12.71 to £12.73.

PM’s planned tax cuts

Those in the top bracket saw a pay increase by an average of 7.6 per cent from £58.73 in 2016 to £63.18 in 2018, according to the Office for National Statistics reports.

The TUC warned the gap between the richest and average earners will continue to widen under the Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s planned tax cut for high earners.

During his Tory leadership campaign, he promised to raise the 40p tax rate threshold from those earning £50,000-a-year to £80,000.

Only those earning more than £80,000 would pay 40 per cent tax on a portion of their earnings while the 20 per cent tax rate would remain for those on lower incomes.

The drive would be funded by increasing National Insurance payments and partly by money reserved for a no-deal Brexit.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson explained: “We should be raising thresholds of income tax – so that we help the huge numbers that have been captured in the higher rate by fiscal drag.”

The Institute For Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the biggest beneficiaries would include wealthy pensioners, and people living solely off investments, as neither pay National Insurance.

‘Living crisis’

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “While millions struggle with Britain’s cost of living crisis, pay for those at top is back in the fast lane.

“We need an economy that works for everyone, not just the richest one per cent.

“Boris Johnson’s promised tax giveaway to high earners would only make things worse. The prime minister is focused on helping his wealthy mates and donors – not working people.”