Four in ten workers had no pay rise in the last year, MSE poll finds

Only a quarter had a pay rise matching or exceeding current inflation

Four in ten (41 per cent) workers haven’t had a pay rise in the last year, with those on the lowest salaries least likely to have had one, according to a poll by the UK’s biggest consumer website, MoneySavingExpert.com.

Discounting those who said they didn’t know, some 8,851 people were asked whether they’d had a pay rise, or had awarded themselves one if self-employed. The site also asked whether any increase they’d seen was less than, in line with or more than current inflation. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI), a key measure of how fast UK prices are rising, is currently at a five-and-a-half year high of 3 per cent.

Here are the poll’s key findings, calculated from those who said whether they had or hadn’t had a pay rise.

• Overall 59 per cent said they’d had a pay rise in the past year. But only 24% said their wage had risen in line with or by more than current inflation.
• For those that had had no pay rise, it wasn’t simply a case of being new in their role. 89% of those who hadn’t had a pay rise said they HAD been in their job for longer than a year.
• Those on the lowest salaries were generally much less likely to have had a pay rise. Just 39% of those earning less than £11,500 had had a pay rise in the past year, compared to 59% of those earning more than £65,001(1). Only 13% of those earning under £11,500 saw a rise in line with or by more than current inflation.

Megan French, consumer expert at MoneySavingExpert.com said: “This suggests many people have had an effective pay cut in the last year, with those who can least afford it affected the most. When inflation is high and people aren’t getting pay rises to match, households really feel the squeeze on paying the bills they can’t avoid, such as heating, food and rent.

“But pay rises aside, it’s always worth remembering there are plenty of ways to cut costs and give yourself a money makeover, such as switching your energy or doing an audit of your direct debits to make sure you’re not paying out for things you don’t use, which can all add up to save £1000s.”