WORKERS in parts of the region are typically being paid £1 an hour less than the national average, as a result of the north-south pay-gap.

New figures provided exclusively to The Northern Echo reveal the full-extent of the region’s economic difficulties, and the effect on families and individuals.

All 12 council areas in the North-East now have a higher unemployment rate than the UK average, but those in work are also suffering, with average pay in 11 of the 12 areas below the national average.

In addition, more families in the North-East than elsewhere live in households where nobody works, and 21 per cent of residents’ income is through state support, compared to a UK average of 15 per cent.

In Hartlepool, one in five adults of working age lives in a household where nobody works, the highest rate of all council areas in the UK.

Recent research by Durham University showed that 85 per cent of anti-poverty charities in the north expected demand to rise in the next two to three years.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) also revealed that 700,000 more children and pensioners had been tipped into poverty, with rates rising for the first time in 20 years.

JRF has now produced a unique breakdown of statistics for the North-East, to accompany special reports this week in The Northern Echo, looking at the personal stories of poverty in the region.

The figures reveal the extent of the pay gap affecting the North-East. The average job in England pays the equivalent of £12.53 an hour, but in the North-East the figure is £11.57. The lowest average is £10.42 in Northumberland, followed by £10.62 in Gateshead and £10.67 in Redcar and Cleveland.

Only Newcastle in the region beats the national average, at £12.65.

When only full-time jobs are considered, the median average for weekly pay in the North-East is £504.10, against an English average of £555.80.

All 12 council areas in the North-East fall short of the English figure, with South Tyneside faring worst, at £470.50 a week.

For lower-paid jobs, Hartlepool and Darlington have particularly low weekly pay. The lowest-paid fifth of workers receive £335 a week or less in those towns, against £373 or less elsewhere. Across the UK, 25 per cent of workers receive less than £400 a week, but in the North-East the figure is 30 per cent.

In Darlington and Gateshead, average pay has actually fallen year-on-year, although across the region as a whole it has increased by 3.3 per cent.