Salary calculator UK: how much less your take-home pay is worth after inflation as workers see record wage cut

Workers in the UK faced a record real-terms salary cut in the three months to June, with pay falling by 4.1% after inflation is taken into account.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the drop in earnings represented the biggest slump since records began in 2001.

It follows an unprecedented rise in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation, with the price of goods and services up by an average of 9.4% in June year on year.

But how much less is your money worth because of inflation?

We have created a salary calculator to show you how far the value of your pay has fallen this year in the face of the rising cost of living.

How much has inflation risen by?

In the first six months of the year alone – between December 2021 and June 2022 – prices increased by 5.8%, according to the ONS’s CPI data.

That means that you would now have to fork out an average of £1.06 to buy what would have cost you only £1 in December 2021 prices – although not all goods and services rise at the same rate, and some prices may have come down.

To put that another way, it means £1 from December 2021 would only stretch to buy you 94p worth of goods and services in June prices.

How much less is your money worth?

We have created a salary calculator below to help you understand what inflation means for your finances.

If you type in what your monthly income was in December 2021, the calculator will show you how far that money would have gone in June, after inflation.

For instance, if you were earning £1,500 in December, that would only buy you the equivalent of £1,417.49 worth of goods and service in June.

National Insurance contributions also went up in April, which is not reflected in the calculator.

What is being done about inflation?

Inflation is being driven in large part by rising fuel, energy and food prices.

The ONS said that the cost of motor fuels jumped by 42.3% in the 12 months to June, marking the biggest leap since records began.

Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey have both pledged to get inflation under control.

However, the Bank of England is expecting inflation to rise even further in the autumn when Ofcom’s next review of the energy price cap is predicted to push annual bills to almost £3,000.

The current cap of £1,971 is already a record, beating the previous high by 54%. It is expected to soar to £2,980 in the next period, which runs from October to December.