in the ONS monthly wage data, you can see it jumps upward every couple of months. I know anecdotally from my dad he had multiple pay rises in '75. And I have no reason to believe he'd lie to me.
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Average wage growth increased not because everyone got a pay rise every couple of months but because each company or organisation had different dates for their yearly rises to come into effect.
And yes, people did have to wait all year to catch up with and hopefully get ahead of inflation.
Unfortunately short of a ouija board I can't pull my dad up on this. he was at least as adamant during his life that he did have multiple annual pay rises during 75 as you are that he didn't, otherwise I'd not have mentioned it. Sorry 🤷
In the normal course of events, I wouldn't put much stock in a parent saying that sort of thing but clearing out his house, I've got a lever arch of "every major purchase" receipt since the late 50s, P60 summaries since he started work, every car invoice & service he'd ever had etc.
It's possible that as a public sector employee he got incremental pay rises as he rose in seniority or took on more duties on top of a yearly rise - those were still in place when I worked in local government in the 80s and 90s.
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And yes, people did have to wait all year to catch up with and hopefully get ahead of inflation.