The government claims to be concerned about ‘inflation-busting’ settlements. Public sector wages have generally ‘risen’ by 2.7%; private sector wages by 6.9%. Many benefits (not all) have ‘risen’ in line with inflation.
I have put ‘risen’ in inverted commas because incomes have not risen at all. As a simple matter of maths, a rise ‘in line with’ inflation is not an increase in income; it is a reduction.
| Initial income | 100 |
| Inflation | 10.7% |
| Value of income after inflation | 89.30 |
| Increase of: | |
| 2.7% (recent public sector awards) | 91.71 |
| 6.9% (recent private sector awards) | 95.46 |
| 7% (NHS in Scotland) | 95.55 |
| 10.7% (‘in line with’ inflation) |
98.56 |
| 12.32% (break even) | 100 |
| 19% (the claim made by the RCN) | 106.27 |
Increasing benefits ‘in line with inflation’ implies a cut in real income. It would take an increase of 12.32% before that did not happen. And the supposedly unaffordable claim by the RCN for 19% is actually a request for an increase in real terms of 6.27%. Since 2010, the real wages of nurses have fallen by 8%. The RCN claim would not restore that level of income.