A stark reminder of the Welsh economic reality

New Research from the right wing Think Tank Policy Exchange published today show rates of public sector wages and how they have compared to the private sector during the past two years in the UK and Wales.

Some of the main findings are below

• The public sector pay premium for a typical worker increased in every region of the UK between 2009 and 2010 (except Yorkshire). As in 2009, the largest premium was found in Wales and then the North West.

• In Scotland, the North East, the North West and Wales, a typical public worker can expect to be paid a fifth more than the typical private sector worker.

• The only group where private sector pay is actually higher than the public sector is for the top 10% of earners.

• The public sector pay gap continued to increase up to December 2010 in spite of pay freezes. This is true when you consider the gap between the typical (median) hourly pay of a public and private sector worker, and also when accounting for differences in the composition of the workforces.

For all of us who want to see a more prosperous Wales, these figures reveal the unrealistic scale of the challenge in rebalancing the Welsh economy. Because what’s needed is not just growing the private sector but also making the wages and opportunities attractive enough to potential employees who can currently only choose one sector or to leave Wales all together.

So will the situation change anytime soon, probably not, which means that relative prosperity in Wales will continue to decline – depressing, but not really a surprise.

The full briefing report is here

Thought for the Day

There has been endless analysis of Plaid Cymru’s predicament, a fair amount about the Welsh Conservatives and its upcoming leadership race as well as the rights and wrongs of a Lib Dem deal with Labour, but virtually nothing of substance about the Labour Party or its plans for Wales, which is concerning especially as they are likely to govern alone in Cardiff Bay.

Labour did better in Wales than elsewhere in the UK last Thursday and will feel like kings of the castle, but how healthy is it for Welsh democracy that the largest party continues to escape any serious public scrutiny before, during and now after the election by the media, its supporters, the commentariat and us bloggers?