Average Scottish worker’s pay beats England for first time

London-based think tank the Resolution Foundation has found that in 2014, for the first time, median Scottish pay rose above that in England, and by last year, there was a small advantage: £11.92 per hour to £11.84 in England.

The Resolution Foundation analysed figures from the Office for National Statistics to find that Scotland’s median pay - the mid-point between the highest and lowest earners, with exactly the same number of people earning more as were earning less - rose at a faster rate than any other nation or region in the UK over the past two decades, with North-east England second fastest.

The think tank report argues that steady growth, high employment and improved productivity were behind the relative improvement in pay during last decade which had seen the long-standing gap in median pay closing before the financial crash took place.

In 2004, hourly pay was 7.2 per cent lower than in England. Five years later, that had reduced to 2.9 per cent.

When the recession struck, Scottish workers faced a shallower decline in pay than in England, the Foundation said.

Median pay should be affected by the introduction of a higher statutory minimum wage from April, which the UK government has dubbed the national living wage, and which will only apply to those aged at least 25.

The report goes on to say that continued jobs growth and productivity improvements will be required if the “pay premium” is to be maintained.

Conor d’Arcy, a research analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said the continuing low pay problems in Scotland would be improved if more people were moved on to the independently-calculated Living Wage.

It is higher than the statutory level and calculated to be the lowest level of earnings necessary for basic needs.

Mr d’Arcy said: “Scotland’s impressive pay performance has been underpinned by high employment and steady economic growth, particularly in the run up to the crash. But its recent employment and growth record has been less impressive.

“While Scotland’s strong pay growth has been good news for many workers, it is still the case that one in five employees is low paid.

“With the higher minimum wage for the over-25s expected to reduce rather than eliminate low pay, tackling this longstanding problem should be a top priority for parties in the run-up to May’s election.”