'Cleaners worth more to society than City bankers'

Cleaners are more valuable to society than City bankers, a new study from the New Economics Foundation suggests.

The organisation's A Bit Rich? report reveals that elite City bankers earning £1 million or more in bonuses destroy £7 of value for every £1 they create, while cleaners create over £10 in value for every £1 they receive in pay.

Similarly, waste recycling workers generate £12 for every £1 that is spent on their wages.

Researchers reached their conclusions by measuring conventional economic returns including job creation but adding positive or negative changes in wellbeing to individuals and to society at large.

Eilis Lawlor, head of the Valuing What Matters team at the New Economics Foundation, said there needs to be a relationship between what people are paid and the value of their jobs to society.

"Pay levels often don't reflect the true value that is being created," she said. "As a society, we need a pay structure which rewards those jobs that create most societal benefit, rather than those that generate profits at the expense of society and the environment."

Last month cleaners servicing Virgin trains on the West Coast Main Line went on strike to protest against low pay and poor employment conditions.

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