It’s been almost 12 years since the UK was hit by one of the worst periods of recession since the Great Depression, where in one quarter alone in 2009 GDP fell by 2.6 %. The UK’s GDP has grown back above the level of pre-financial crisis however there are many ways at looking at recovery.
The IFS has stated that although the economy has recovered people will be £9000 worse off on average by 2022 relative to a pre-crisis trend. The economy has recovered but the growth is slow.
Inequality in the UK is deeply troubling as although London has recovered it could be argued that Austerity has had a massive impact on the livelihoods of many people in the UK. It could be argued it was not needed as the government debt is still £1.8 trillion, thus was it necessary to cut vital funding to the NHS and schools?
Job growth on the other hand is exceptional in the UK. Over 3 million jobs have been added this decade and wage growth is at 4% which is way above inflation which is currently at 1.7% since August of 2019. This is fantastic and is a testament to the resilience shown by the UK government since 2010, a crucial element to recovery.
However out of the 2.5 million jobs created in the the professional sector, most of them were taken up by people aged above 40 and so young people are still struggling to make it up the professional ladder. This divide is also very clear when one looks at the comparison between the North and the South of the UK.
London and the South East of the UK are far more productive than areas in the North where productivity is worse than some countries such as Romania and Hungary. While the South of England has predominantly service sector jobs, the North is reliant on manufacturing as it’s main economic drive.
Although the UK has recovered from the financial crisis in terms of GDP and employment rates, it has a lot of problems lying ahead like how to fix the economic divide in the UK and how to create more job security for younger people.
DQ’s blog 