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A couple of articles explain, perhaps, why landscaping is still yet to enter a sustained recovery.

Figures for the Office of National Statistics reveal that the average wage earner is now £5,000 a year worse off.

From the Independent

"Average earnings from employment and investments for the middle fifth of non-retired households on the income ladder fell from £37,900 to £32,600 between 2007-08 and 2011-12. State benefits for this group rose from £3,100 to £4,600 over the same period. Average direct taxes paid by them fell from £8,700 to £6,800 while indirect tax payments dropped from £6,400 to £6,000."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-real-cost-of-the-economic-downturn-to-britains-squeezed-middle-revealed-8978639.html

From the Guardian

The figures confirm that the earnings squeeze pre-dates the 2007 recession, appearing to endorse Ed Miliband's claim that the link between wages and growth has been broken, one of his chief justifications for his willingness to intervene in the market. The report says: "While GDP per person continued to grow at similar rates between 2004-5 and 2007-8, growth of median household income slowed to a fifth of its previous rate in the years immediately before the start of the economic downturn."

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/dec/02/british-wage-earners-pay-cut-five-years