The pay gap across the public and private sectors has more than doubled to 7% since the start of the recession, figures have revealed.
Data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has shown that average annual earnings of public sector workers rose to £22,405 last year – compared with £20,988 paid to the average private sector worker. This equates to a 7% pay gap, more than double the 3% gap recorded the year before, an investigation by the Sunday Times found.
The analysis was validated by Straight Statistics, a group that campaigns for the accurate reporting of official data. Nigel Hawkes, Straight Statistics director, said: “However you look at it, public sector workers have done better than most in the private sector over the past decade – and the gap is widening.”
David Frost, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “Right across the spectrum of pay and conditions the public sector is now outstripping the private sector.”
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The latest unemployment figures, out last year, found that average earnings continued to show a divide across the public and private sectors. Public sector workers were offered a 2.7% pay rise excluding bonuses, down 0.1 percentage points, while private sector workers got a 1.4% rise, excluding bonuses, unchanged from the previous quarter.
A spokesman for the Treasury said: “In the pre-budget report the government announced it would seek to cap basic pay uplifts at 1% across the public sector in 2011-12 and 2012-13. This will save £3.4bn by April 2013.”
