Summary of the editorial from IDS Pay Report 966, December 2006

Earnings for key public sector jobs

ASHE shows modest earnings growth despite pay restructuring

In this article we use figures from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings to look at average earnings for key public sector jobs – firefighters, nurses, police officers, social workers and teachers – since 2000. The results show clearly that earnings rises have mostly been modest, though they also show the impact that the various measures implemented during the period to deal with recruitment and retention problems, have had on earnings. They also show that while earnings for most groups have remained stable, relative to the average for all employees, those for police officers have fallen slightly.

The latest figures from the Government’s Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, for April 2006, show how average earnings for key public sector occupations – for firefighters, nurses, police officers, social workers and teachers – have moved in relation to average earnings for all employees, both public and private sector, since the turn of the century.

The average earnings of teachers, nurses, firefighters and social workers have been broadly stable over the period. The exception is police officers, whose relative position worsened somewhat over the period, from 135 per cent to 119 per cent of the average for all employees. It has long been the case that during periods of economic recovery, earnings for police officers tend to lag behind those for the whole economy, though during recession they tend to do comparatively better.

... the full editorial can be read in IDS Pay Report 966