Salary had already been static for 4 years. Then my civil service employer announced some changes to the way I was paid which meant no pay rise for the foreseeable future. So, I told them I was leaving. Now I have a more interesting, less stressful, better paid job with a growing, private sector company. Win win.

Work in social care, with no pay rise for 6 year, and further budget cuts in the pipeline I don’t feel better off .Since 2008 my take home pay has fallen considerably as my hours have been cut and the future looks very similar. Then again I am still working and live in a fantastic area so it’s not all bad.

Yes, funnily enough. I was able to find and keep two fairly well paid jobs during the recession and subsequent years (not convinced we’re out of it regardless of what numbers the ONS pull out of their backside), and the only reason I was able to buy the house I live in now is thanks to the slump in the housing market.

So, really, thank you Gordon for the boom & bust.

Public service so of course 1% pay rise since 2009. So to frontload the positives, my actual gross pay is 1% richer than it was.
Of course the contributions to my gold-plated nhs pension have risen too so take home is less. And never mind inflation and the rising cost of pretty much everything since then.
On a course with health workers across the south west at the moment: those that under the preset present (ooh, a typing freudian slip!) government now work for the private sector not the nhs but doing exactly the same job have had similar non-pay rises and are waiting for tupe/goodwill to run out before they get pay cuts or significant changes to job descriptions/responisbilities/working conditions ie more work for same pay.
On the other hand, a friend of a friend (who is high up/director level somwhere in nhs at the mo) is being headhunted by various private sector providers at the moment: given the pay offers he is getting I expect that somewhere at the top 10% of private healthcare provision there might be some people now on say £90k instead of £70k. 😕

in order to rescue those who adopted lifestyles based on financial folly

Oh pur-lease… banker bashing is so over.

I was feeling better off until I got my tax bill 🙁