FEW workers are feeling the benefit of the economic recovery, with just one in 50 better off, a report has said.

The Trade Union Congress says the recovery will be unsustainable unless workers receive a pay rise and see living standards improve.

Paul Nowak, assistant general secretary, said : “We must ensure we have a recovery for all, that doesn't leave working people struggling to make ends meet as energy and transport costs continue to spiral.

“What the patchy recovery has done is shine a light on the uneven distribution of reward in the UK.

“In the first three days of the year, chief executives of top companies earn what their workers can expect to receive during the whole of 2014.

“Directors pay has trebled over the past decade while real wages have stagnated for ordinary workers.

“You only have to look at the current bonus round in the banking industry for evidence of that, where telephone number bonuses remain the norm.”

Mr Nowak said the UK's low pay epidemic should be tackled, adding most public sector workers were still subject to a one per cent wage cap.

He said: “We need a recovery that lifts the living standards of all workers, regardless of where they live or which sector they work in.”