The average UK family will spend over £800 on Christmas* but our members are struggling to pay for the basics after seeing their pay effectively cut by £3,504 in 7 years.

The Tories have behaved like Scrooge on pay and public services since 2010 in the name of their failed austerity project. We’re continuing to urge our members to use the PCS pay calculator and email their result with chancellor Philip Hammond to show the impact of the government’s 7-year pay squeeze. More than 35,000 people have so far used the calculator and 8,000 have shared their result with the chancellor. But as part of our ongoing campaign to scrap the 1% public sector cap and secure fully funded, above inflation rises for everyone we need as many people as possible to use the calculator and share their result with the chancellor. It only takes a few minutes so if you have downtime over the festive period please use the calculator and encourage your colleagues to work out their losses, too.

The momentum of the PCS pay campaign is building into 2018 as we argue that the Treasury pay remit, which sets the parameters for settling pay across the civil service, must formally lift the 1% public sector pay cap for civil servants and enable departments to pay above inflation increases.

Living standards have been cut, and rising inflation is only making matters worse, meaning that even the basics have been put out of reach of many with thousands of people forced to turn to foodbanks, let alone people being able to give their families a good Christmas.

Back in 2010, the government put in place a two-year public sector pay freeze. They then implemented a “pay cap”, set at 1%. For many PCS members pay has only increased by 5% in seven years. In that time inflation, which measures increases in the cost of living, has increased by 21.3%. This means the value of public sector pay has fallen.

Get involved

Some PCS members report that by the end of each month they face difficult choices between paying bills and putting food on the table. Let us know:

• What have you have had to do to make ends meet?
• If yours is a ‘just about managing’ family, what does that mean in reality?
• What would an inflation-busting pay rise mean for you?

Email your stories to editor@pcs.org.uk

Find out more about the PCS pay campaign.

*The independent Money Advice Service made the estimate based on spending intensions from last year. It is publicising its Christmas money planner to help people plan for Christmas.