Living hand to mouth - how nurses deal with the reality of pay restraint.

摘要

As the battle rages over the 2014/15 pay deal for nurses, Nursing Standard spoke to staff across the UK to find out how they have been affected by the 2010-2012 pay freeze and the 1 per cent rise this year.Nurses have had a real-terms pay cut of 9 per cent since 2010, as a result of a 14 per cent rise in the cost of living during that period.Hundreds of nursing staff responded to our survey. Many of them are lone parents struggling on one wage, while some have become the sole breadwinner because their partner is out of work.Glasgow-based cardiothoracic nurse Karen Millar has two children aged eight and ten. Her partner is unemployed and she says it is increasingly difficult to make her band 5 salary stretch.'It is very stressful. Children want things so I am scrimping and scraping, but the kids have to go without sometimes. I am living hand to mouth,'she says. 'Electricity bills are going up and the cost of food has risen a lot. I really have to budget.'Ms Millar works occasional bank shifts to supplement her income, which has not risen significantly since she reached the top of her pay band in 2009.