Posted by John Nichols on November 15, 2005 at 20:22:18 from 165.91.198.54 user Mcneacail.
In Reply to: Re: Cost of boats posted by John Nichols on November 15, 2005 at 20:19:21:
British farmers still earn below national minimum wage average
British farmers are still earning below the hourly national minimum wage, despite reports that farm incomes have increased this year.
DEFRA has today released figures on farm incomes suggesting that the average full time farmer earns £10,700pa. This figure is an increase on recent years, but farmers working an industry norm of between 60 and 70 hours a week are still earning well below the hourly rate for the national minimum wage. The figure earned by farmers is also drastically below the national average wage.
These sums earned by many farmers prevent them from making any form of investment or diversification into more profitable, sustainable and environmentally friendly methods of farming. This seriously undermines the efficacy of the industry as a whole.
Chief Executive Richard Burge commented “An average British farmer works a seven day week, putting in far longer hours than most of the British workforce. And this does not take into account the vast number of unpaid hours put in to farm businesses by the family as a whole. For them to be earning less than the rest of the workforce is a major issue of social justice. DEFRA has reported that farm incomes are up this year, but they are still desperately low and action must be taken to redress this anomaly before the industry fails”.