Post

Jack
@jhol95.bsky.social

Been thinking about this since and decided to have more of a look, and, well, shit. Min wage to higher tax bracket ratio in 2006: £9,200/£33,000 (0.28) Min wage to higher tax bracket ratio in 2016: £14,200/£43,000 (0.33) Min wage to higher tax bracket ratio in 2026: £27,500/£50,000 (0.55)

Jack@jhol95.bsky.social

Not to open oneself up to accusations of being right-wing, but a minimum wage of nearly £30,000 a year and a higher rate tax bracket of £50,000 does look a little off

Jack
@jhol95.bsky.social

We appear to have sleepwalked into massive wage compression over the last decade and it seems (from someone who worked in politics 2018-2025) to have largely passed our political and editorial class by?

1 repost16 likes

Jack
@jhol95.bsky.social

Definitely something left-leaning voices need to get out in front of rather than letting the right frame min wage/NLW exactly how they want to at somepoint between now and the next GE. bsky.app/profile/jhol... bsky.app/profile/jhol...

Jack@jhol95.bsky.social

This is not a comment on tax, but the fact that successive governments have simply decided to raise min wage rather than fixing structural issues with our economy as a way of alleviating people's burdens, and that has led to something that looks suspiciously like wage compression.

Steve Jary
@unionsteve.bsky.social

Not everyone sleepwalked. Just the politicos. The deviation from the median has narrowed considerably over the last couple of decades. IMHO a consequence of a number of factors, including unions prioritising low pay but also changes in work organisation - particularly in ‘white collar’ occupations.

Steve Jary
@unionsteve.bsky.social

And min wage, of course. But, then, the unions failed to restore differentials. If they had more power, I’d have expected them to do this. But it may be that they wouldn’t. Perhaps the mindset has changed? Which is odd, given that the bulk of new union members are graduates in the squeezed middle!