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This report looks at trends in public sector pay and compares these with what has been happening in the private sector. We start by analysing the overall levels of public and private sector pay, including how they have evolved over recent years and the differences after accounting for the different composition of the public and private sector workforces. We then examine how the difference between pay in the public and private sector varies across different groups of workers and areas of the country. Finally, we consider the potenial consequences of differences in pay for the skills and abilities of workers in the public and private sector.
Authors

Deputy Director
Carl, a Deputy Director, is an editor of the IFS Green Budget, an expert on the UK pension system and sits on the Social Security Advisory Committee.

Research Fellow
Luke is a Research Fellow at the IFS and his general research interests include education policy, political economy and poverty and inequality.

Associate Director
Jonathan is an Associate Director and Head of Retirement, Savings and Ageing sector, focusing on pensions, savings and later-life economic activity.
Report details
- DOI
- 10.1920/re.ifs.2014.0097
- ISBN
- 978-1-909463-60-8
- Publisher
- IFS
Suggested citation
J, Cribb and C, Emmerson and L, Sibieta. (2014). Public Sector Pay in the UK. London: IFS. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/public-sector-pay-uk (accessed: 14 June 2025).
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