Household disposable income down 20% since 2008

Average wages fell by less than 8% since 2008, yet disposable income, which governs people’s “living standards”, fell by as much as 20% in the last six years, a trade union economic think-tank claimed.

The Nevin Economic Research Institute said latest CSO figures show a 7.8% fall in average weekly earnings between the end of 2008 and the third-quarter of this year. The institute said when price inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, was factored in, “the real value of average weekly earnings is down by 11.5% from its real peak in the fourth-quarter of 2009 to the third-quarter of 2014”.

NERI director Tom Healy said an 11.5% drop was not the equivalent of a fall in disposable household income.