Low pay is a growing problem in Salford, with figures hopelessly masked by larger earnings in Salford Quays and MediaCityUK. Figures released this week by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show that 17.4% of Salford employee jobs were paid below the Living Wage of £7.85 an hour in 2013-14.
While shocking, the Salford percentage is relatively low compared to an average of 23% in the rest of the UK, and other Greater Manchester places, like Oldham with 33.7% and Bolton with 28%.
However, the figures are only for `employee jobs' in the city, and don't reflect numbers of low paid self employed people, nor Salford people working outside of Salford.
Skills and Work statistics from Salford City Council covering full time average wages over the five year period 2009-2013 show that Salford residents' earnings are 10.7% - or £2,888 - lower than Salford workplace earnings (see here). From this, it can be seen that well paid jobs in areas like Salford Quays and MediaCityUK that are being taken by people from outside the city are skewing the real economic state of Salford families.
A more realistic picture comes from TUC research of official figures for last year which showed that 40.2% of women working part-time in the city were paid less than the Living Wage (see here), and child poverty rates that are as high as 45.7% in Irwell Riverside, 44.6% in Langworthy and 42.2% in Ordsall (see here).
Meanwhile, A Minimum Income Standard for the UK report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) last year showed that to have an adequate living standard, a lone parent with one child now needs to earn more than £27,100, while a couple with two children need to earn more than £20,200 each (see here). The average Salford resident's wage is £23,903.
The Index of Multiple Deprivation (2010), also shows that, away from the Quays and MediaCityUK, Salford has almost 7% of its ward areas, or LSOAs, within the 1% most deprived in England, and is ranked 8th worst in the country.
Despite Salford City Council trumpeting its Living Wage City campaign, and paying its own staff the Living Wage, poverty wage rates amongst its residents are still shocking...
* See also previous Salford Star article: Salford Deprivation Revealed in AGMA Report - click here
* To read the ONS report - click here
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