Britain risks divorce and bad luck next year because wages are lower than in France

“There is a strong relationship between economic conditions measured by total unemployment and inflation,” said Coppelian, adding that next year the average weekly store could hit £100 for the first time.

Mr. Coplian added that the negative economic impact of the previous financial crisis in 2008 “will still be felt for a few years”.

The average British worker will earn an inflation-adjusted £35,318 in 2022, PwC said, behind the average French worker of £35,667. According to OECD data, the average full-time worker in France works 38.7 hours per week, compared to 41.3 hours in Britain.

French earnings are expected to fall less than 1% in real terms next year to £35,462, while British workers are expected to fall by 2% to £34,643.

“The UK has been hit more by inflationary pressures than France,” said Jack Finney, an economist at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Finney said weak productivity growth had kept the UK stagnant in real wage growth for two decades.

PricewaterhouseCoopers expects Britain’s workforce to be smaller next year than it was before the pandemic, despite expectations that 300,000 people will return to the job market. About 565,000 people have taken early retirement or stopped looking for work altogether, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), due to illness or going back to school.

The advisors said that lower economic activity “will help mitigate some of the labor shortages in high-skill sectors.”

Official records from the 19th century showed that divorce rates rose from just 23 in 1868 to 165,000 in 1993, as the stigma of separation faded and the government removed barriers to separation.

Divorce rates have also decreased in recent years. It also fell in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, reflecting the “unity” of the family, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.