Pay freeze will mean 8% drop in salaries of experienced teachers since 2007

New IFS analysis ‘The long, long squeeze on teacher pay‘ by Jonathan Cribb and Luke Sibieta, provides the first analysis of what the announcement of a pay freeze for teachers in England in 2021 means for long-run changes in teacher pay.

This shows teacher pay levels in 2021 will be about 8% lower in real terms than in 2007, just before the financial crisis. And they are still about 4-5% lower for less experienced teachers. These represent declines relative to average earnings, which has now recovered to be just above the level seen in 2007. This analysis has been supported by funding from the Nuffield Foundation.

Luke Sibieta, Research Fellow at the IFS, said: “It is astounding that teacher pay levels remain so far below what they were before the financial crisis in 2007. The 8% drop in earnings for more experienced teachers has almost certainly contributed to the worsening picture on teacher recruitment and retention. The fact that it has taken a global pandemic and economic crisis to ease the pressures on the teacher labour market illustrates the scale of the challenge. To stop these problems getting worse, the government will need to provide above-inflation awards from 2022 onwards.”