We must share the burden of post-recession sacrifices

It was reported today that the majority of public sector workers are still expecting to see a rise in their pay packets next year despite a 1% cap on pay rises imposed by Alistair Darling in the pre-budget report.

However with the public deficit so high, public sector workers must accept that they are going to have to make sacrifices as we try to get our budget under control. And they're not the only ones. Everyone is going to have to shoulder some of the pain of the post-recession spending cuts which all three parties are now committed to.

Employees in the public sector have been largely cushioned from the effects of the recession. The government's foolish insistence on spending their way out of the recession has meant the public sector has enjoyed more cash, not less, during the recession. Contrast this to the private sector where many firms have imposed pay-freezes, we've had redundancies galore and some workers have even agreed to work for free in order to keep their jobs in the long-term. This contrast cannot continue in years to come.

The 1% cap on public sector wages will cause a real terms cut in pay but this does not go far enough. Beginning in 2010, public sector wages should be frozen in order to help ease the deficit.

But public sector earners are not the only ones who must shoulder some of the pain. I also believe benefit payments should be frozen (it might even get some people back in to work) and pensioners should accept that they cannot go on enjoying above-inflation rises in their pensions whilst families suffer from a falling in come; pensions must therefore be subject to similar restraints in the next few years. Of course this will never happen - politicians would not even dream about upsetting the grey vote for the sake of relieving the younger generation of our lovely big debt.

The coming years will be very painful in terms of budget policy but we must all share the burden of this pain no matter which sector we work in or if we work at all for that matter.