Third sector workers get raw deal

Regeneration & Renewal, 27 October 2006

The pay of almost 20 per cent of third sector workers has not increased at all over the last year, according to the Regeneration & Renewal survey.

Within the voluntary and community sector, just over 25 per cent of people working in charities and 13.6 per cent of those in voluntary groups and social enterprises, who have remained in the same job over the last 12 months, say they have not received any increase in salary.

A further two per cent and nine per cent respectively have received a rise below the rate of inflation - a pay cut in real terms (see table, right).

But more than 34 per cent of third sector employees surveyed said they had received a pay increase of between two and 2.9 per cent over the past year. Another 24 per cent received a rise of between three and 3.9 per cent.

The research also reveals that just over one per cent of workers employed in the voluntary and community sector have actually seen their salaries decline over the last 12 months.

However, the pay of nearly 50 per cent of those employed by local authorities has risen between two per cent and 2.9 per cent over the past year, according to the survey.

Around 34 per cent of public regeneration agency workers who were questioned also said they had received pay increases of between two per cent and 2.9 per cent over the same period.

Private consultancy in regeneration is a polarised industry. Nearly a quarter of private sector consultants reported a zero increase in salaries after taking inflation into account. But 14 per cent had a rise of between ten and 14.9 per cent over the last 12 months.

The figures also show that nearly half of workers in central government have seen their pay decrease in real terms by almost three per cent.