Workers resident in St Albans and Maldon top the East of England earnings league with those in Fenland and Great Yarmouth at the bottom

East of EnglandEmploymentLevelling Uppay

Workers resident in St Albans and Maldon top the East of England earnings league with those in Fenland and Great Yarmouth at the bottom

Figures illustrate the degree to which the areas covering the East of England are split between those residents with higher earnings and those with the lower paid and are linked to economic opportunities says GMB London.

The mean average annual earnings of full-time workers resident in St Albans in 2021 at £62,768, is 164.6% that of the national average salary for all workers in the UK.

Second in the league were full-time workers resident in Maldon earning £53,666 or 140.7% of the national average. Followed by East Hertfordshire at £51,502 (135.1%), Rochford at £49,154 (128.9%), South Cambridgeshire at £48,832 (128.1%).

At the other end of the earnings league, the bottom, came Fenland where full-time workers earned £30,665 or 80.4% of the national average wage, second from the bottom was Great Yarmouth £31,123 (81.6%), then Breckland at £31,786 (83.4%), Luton £32,165 (84.4%) and fifth from the bottom came North Norfolk at £32,350 (84.8%). In fact, in twenty of the 44 areas in the East of England workers resident there earn on average less than the national average earnings.

The average annual earnings of workers living in the East of England in 2021 was £39,903 or 104.8% of the UK average of £38,131.

These figures are from a new study by GMB of The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) of mean average annual gross earnings for full-time employee jobs for 2021 from the Office for National Statistics Table 8.7a. The figures for workers resident in the East of England are set out in the table below. For 2021 no figures are available for workers resident in Brentwood. See notes to editors below for sources and definitions.

Warren Kenny, Regional Secretary GMB London, said:

“These figures graphically demonstrate the extent to which the areas of the East of England are split between those with residents with higher earnings and those with the lower-paid,  it is notable that the areas in the commuter belt for London and Cambridge have the workers resident with the highest earnings.

“After the pandemic, all workers are facing severe costs of living pressures as inflation bites into living standards. This is a very big issue that will dominate politics and the economy over the next year. More must be done to ensure that work pays, people cannot be left without food, a roof over their heads and energy as a result of not having the same opportunity as workers living a few miles from them.

“The figures show that in the non-commuting parts of the East of England earnings are actually below the UK average. Insecure work and low pay means workers in these areas are fearing for their future and that of future generations. The government must invest by actively levelling up the pace of economic activity by providing the infrastructure to get people into good, secure and well-paid jobs to help them make the step up from a low income and a low standard of living.

“There is opportunity for change. The new energy security policy announced by Government last week provided serious opportunities for economic development. There is Sizewell new nuclear power station. In addition, the government should ensure that some of the 30,000 steel fabrications jobs required to manufacture 8,000 giant offshore wind turbines needed for net zero should be manufactured in new yards in the East of England. If these are made and installed using UK labour for fabrication, it would create jobs here rather than as planned in Asia. 

“In addition, GMB calls for all outsourced contracts in local government, health, education and transport services like the airports etc should have a built-in requirement for contractors to pay the national Living Wage of £9.90 per hour or £19,305 per year for full-time workers”

End

Contact: GMB London Region Press Office 020 8457 4143, 079 7001 9643

Notes to Editors