MP reveals cost of living crisis and big wage drop in Dearne

John Healey MP has revealed the full scale of the cost of living crisis, and that wages in the Dearne have fallen more than the average.

Since the Coalition Government took office living standards have fallen, with prices outstripping wages.

Average earnings, after inflation, are £1,350 a year lower than they were at the time of the last General Election and that figure will reach £6,600 by 2015.

In real terms, workers on average are earning today the same as they made in 2001.

Wage drops are above average in Yorkshire – falling 8 per cent or £1,721 a year.

In South Yorkshire, the situation is worse still. In Mr Healey’s Wentworth & Dearne constituency, gross full-time pay dropped by more than £2,000 a year in real terms between 2010 and 2012. In the Barnsley Central constituency it fell by £2,600 – more than 10%.

Mr Healey said: “David Cameron is totally out of touch with what is happening to people in the Dearne. His economic policies have failed and the result is that families are massively out of pocket.

“His priority has been to cut taxes for millionaires and reward bankers by cutting the 50p rate of tax.

“Labour would help families right now with a lower 10p starting rate of tax – which would benefit nearly 2 million people in our area; by tackling soaring energy bills and protecting tax credits for working families.”