Is the growth in living standards worse now than in the Great Depression?

an article by Larry Elliott published in the Guardian

New data suggests life is getting tougher now for working-age adults than in the lost decade of the 1930s


The Jarrow March, forever a symbol of the grim economic times of the 1930s. Photograph: Keystone/Getty Images

The 1930s are the benchmark when it comes to lost decades. There are recessions and deep recessions, but then there is the Great Depression. In terms of sustained misery, nothing remotely comes close to the 10-year period that followed the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

Yet in one respect – growth in living standards – the performance of the UK since the financial crisis began in 2007 has been worse than it was in the era that included coming off the Gold Standard, the formation of the National Government and the Jarrow March.

Data from the House of Commons library obtained by the Labour MP Liam Byrne illustrates the point. In both cases, there was a similar-sized contraction of the economy lasting two years, but the subsequent recovery in the 1930s was faster than it has been since 2007.

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