# Pay rose. Why is getting ahead still so hard? — revised film Version 2, researched 1 November 2026. AI narration. Builder checks, not independent analytical assurance. ## Editorial approach One question, a documented lived experience, compatible comparisons, dated survey evidence and a concrete connection to other issues. National measures, survey feelings and individual cases remain different kinds of evidence. No invented interview, no fictional composite presented as real, and no claim that one person represents everyone. ## Sources and limitations ### cost-food https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/d7bu/mm23 ### cost-gas https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/d7du/mm23 ### cost-house https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-house-price-index-reports ### cost-pay https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/earningstimeseriesofmediangrossweeklyearningsfrom1968to2022 NES / ASHE as published in one official historical workbook. Later-basis observation selected where source publishes overlap. No adjustments to remove breaks. Gaps in the drawn pay line at method changes. Long-run comparisons are approximate, not a single consistently sampled panel. ### cost-prices https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/d7bt/mm23 ### economy-survey https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/bulletins/publicopinionsandsocialtrendsgreatbritain/august2026 ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, Great Britain adults, 5–30 August 2026. 3,560 responses from 8,730 sampled adults (41% response). Multiple answers permitted. Employment selected as important: 31% August 2024, 42% August 2025, 54% August 2026. Not unemployment rates. ### family-spending https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/expenditure/datasets/familyspendingworkbook3expenditurebyincome 2024/25 table 3.1E5; food + specified housing/energy rows divided by total spending. Checked original cells retained in earlier production source. ### g7-productivity https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/GBR;USA;DEU;FRA;ITA;JPN;CAN/indicator/SL.GDP.PCAP.EM.KD?format=json&date=1991:2025&per_page=1000 World Bank/ILO modelled output per person employed; constant 2021 PPP dollars. Growth is not wages or output per hour. API updated 2026-10-08 ### poverty-case https://www.trussell.org.uk/our-work/what-we-do/who-needs-food-banks Trussell published accounts: Lowri needed food bank support after her business closed; Steve after an injury ended event-security work. The publisher uses actors to protect participants; this production paraphrases the real accounts and reuses no actor footage. Publication/event dates are not supplied for every account. ## Case studies and visuals Accounts are paraphrased from the original named publishers, not interviews conducted by UK Facts. Historical cases retain their actual dates; an undated case is labelled undated. Trussell’s original films used actors to protect the real participants: none of that actor footage is reused. Stock photographs are illustrative and do not show the case-study subjects or imply their endorsement. No photographs of the named refugee doctor or children are reused. ## Chart method Values are read from the canonical repository packages or the retained original source files, not extracted from chart pixels. Annual and monthly observations keep their real dates. Lines stop at stated methodological breaks and missing pandemic observations; animations do not create new data. Rebased pay/price comparisons show relative change, not a made-up household disposable-income budget. G7 output per worker is price-adjusted growth from the same World Bank/ILO source and matching endpoints, not wages or output per hour. PISA comparisons are alphabetical, not rankings, with sampling cautions and approximate 95% error bars. ## Surveys Survey panels are visibly purple and carry population and fieldwork period. Original questions, bases, weighting and limitations are retained in the research records and canonical source metadata. Different questions/providers are not averaged. Public priorities are multiple-response, not a pie. Public satisfaction and fear do not measure service outcomes or crime incidents. ## Policy and causality Connections illustrate plausible pathways and documented individual experiences; parallel trends do not identify a causal effect. Targets, commitments, delivered services and demonstrated benefits are separate. Proposals are not all costed or appraised; no invented benefit–cost ratio or savings. ## Illustrative photography Photos are scene-setting illustrations, not photographs of the people in the published cases. No endorsement or personal financial/medical circumstance is implied. Pexels licence checked 1 November 2026: https://www.pexels.com/license/ - Hospital corridor: Pavel Danilyuk, photo 8442619: https://www.pexels.com/photo/back-view-of-a-doctor-walking-through-a-hallway-8442619/ - Oxford homes: Peter Morch, photo 35402056: https://www.pexels.com/photo/victorian-terraced-houses-in-oxford-england-35402056/ - Empty classroom: 晓鸟 蓝, photo 36159720: https://www.pexels.com/photo/empty-classroom-with-blackboard-and-desks-36159720/ - Couple reviewing papers: Mikhail Nilov, photo 6964358: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-couple-people-woman-6964358/ - Shopper: Andrea Bova, photo 6488896: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-man-walking-on-a-grocery-store-6488896/ Only the relevant opening photograph appears in each film. Original stock files are private production sources, not redistributed as stock.