Nearly 80% of net job creation since June 2010 has taken place in industries where the average wage is less than £7.95 an hour, according to research by the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
The UK’s low pay recovery research found that, of the 598,000 net rise in new jobs across high and low-paid sectors since June 2010, 77% are in low-paid industries, such as retail, service and residential care.
More than one in five (23%) new jobs created since June 2010 have been in the highly paid computer programming, consultancy and related services industry, where the average hourly wage is £18.40.
In middle-paid industries, which account for nearly three-quarters of the UK workforce and where the average wage is between £7.95 and £17.40 per hour, there has been no net job creation since June 2010.
Frances O’Grady, general secretary at the TUC, said: “Many people who are forced into low-paid work are not only having to take a massive financial hit, but are also having to put their careers on hold.
“This trading down of jobs can also push those with lower skills and less experience, particularly young people, out of work altogether. This is tough for workers and damaging for the wider economy.”