Male earnings 'hardest hit' after the financial crisis

The think tank raised fears that Britain could see the same long-term male pay stagnation as in America, where middle-income jobs have been lost to technological advances.

Average pay for the UK workforce is now £11.62 an hour – a rise of just one penny in real terms since 2003, according to the analysis.

Younger workers have been particularly badly hit in the so-called “lost decade”, with hourly pay for those aged between 22 and 29 declining by 8.9 per cent.

The gender pay gap has closed slightly over the past decade, with male pay falling and women’s pay rising slightly over the period. In 2003, women were paid an average of £9.99 an hour, in today’s prices – 25 per cent less than their male counterparts on £13.37 an hour.

By 2013, median female pay had risen almost 3.5 per cent, but women were still paid 20 per cent less than men, whose pay fell 3 per cent over the decade.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies says the slide in real incomes seen since the recession had probably now been halted.

more