Meeting of the Parliament 30 September 2015
Rising inequality is nothing new; the challenge for the Parliament is how we work together to tackle it. I would rather look ahead than look back, as the member seems to want to do.
The London School of Economics and Political Science growth commission found that
“An economy that grows at 2 per cent per annum in real terms”—
in line with the average growth rate before the financial crisis—
“doubles its material living standards every 35 years.”
However, it is regrettable that the principle that everyone will gain from economic growth is no longer people’s experience in Scotland. As the Resolution Foundation has argued,
“Growth makes rising living standards possible—but it doesn’t guarantee it.”
Indeed, in recent years the link between rising gross domestic product and rising living standards has been broken, with the proceeds of economic growth simply not being passed on in increased earnings for the average worker. Businesses grow, but people get left behind.
The record of the Scottish Government is not good in that regard. Here are the facts: real wages have continued to stagnate throughout this session of Parliament; too many families still work too many hours, with too little to show for it; and the employment rate in Scotland remains 0.9 per cent below the pre-recession level, although the rate across the United Kingdom has rebounded.