Voters are calling out for a significant boost to workers’ rights, post-election polling conducted for the TUC has found
Labour’s historic election win came off the back of UK voters overwhelmingly feeling that things were getting worse.
Whether it was the economy, the NHS, public services or personal finances, people felt things were going the wrong way
For 14 years a succession of Conservative governments put workers’ rights in reverse, making it harder for people to secure decent pay and conditions.
While the number of workers in insecure work soared to 4.1m, the Tories brought in punitive trade union laws, introduced tribunal fees and doubled the qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection.
This led to a huge 63% of the electorate feeling that the Conservative party was no longer on the side of working people.
What is coming over the horizon is Labour’s positive New Deal for working people, an ambitious set of reforms that would transform the lives of all working people.
A poll of 3,000 voters commissioned by the TUC shows huge backing across the political spectrum for improving protections at work and for the fundamental policies that underpin Labour’s New Deal for working people.
The polling reveals what voters thought about Labour’s key employment right policies:
Implementing a real living wage: Three-quarters (77%) of 2024 voters support Labour’s commitment to ensure that the national minimum wage rises to be a real living wage.
Strengthening unfair dismissal: Nearly 2 in 3 (64%) of all 2024 election voters support the day one right to protection from unfair dismissal.
Making sick pay a day 1 right: Nearly 7 in 10 voters (69%) back Labour’s plan to make statutory sick pay available from the first day of sickness.
Ban on fire and rehire: Two-thirds (66%) of voters support a ban on fire and rehire.
Ban on zero hours contracts: Nearly 7 in 10 (67%) voters support banning zero-hours contracts by offering all workers a contract that reflects their normal hours of work and compensation for cancelled shifts.
And there is majority support for collective rights too, including:
Union access to workplaces: 2024 voters by a margin over two to one (46% in favour, 19% against) support giving trade unions a right to access workplaces to tell workers about the benefits of joining a trade union.
Voters across the political spectrum want work to pay and to feel secure and respected in their jobs. Labour’s workers’ rights plans are hugely popular, and this poll should give ministers confidence to get on with delivering them in full.
Working people want a government that is on their side and that will improve the quality of work in this country. After 14 years of stagnating living standards, the UK needs to turn the page on our low-rights, low-pay economy that has allowed good employers to be undercut by the bad.
Trade union campaigns and ideas formed the bedrock of the New Deal for working people. Trade unions will be working flat out with the new government to see these commitments come to fruition.
The trade union movement will work with Keir Starmer to deliver change
What an extraordinary moment in British politics (writes TUC General Secretary PAUL NOWAK). Labour back in power with a near-record majority. The Conservatives brutally ejected from office. A dozen cabinet members gone. A red wave in Scotland at the SNP’s expense. But while it’s easy to get carried away by the seismic nature of this election – we cannot afford to be distracted. We have a country to fix.
When I congratulated Keir Starmer this morning my message to him was clear. The trade union movement stands ready to work with the new government to repair and rebuild Britain – and to deliver the change working people desperately need. After 14 years of wretched Tory rule and chaos, I am not blind to the size of the task this incoming government faces.
The Conservatives have left behind a trail of destruction for all to see. Stagnant growth and wages. Rising in-work poverty. Broken public services. The charge sheet goes on and on. But despite all of the damage wrought, I am optimistic. After nearly a decade and a half in opposition, Labour can finally begin transforming the country – an urgent and necessary challenge that must be grasped with both hands. So where should we start?
First and foremost, we need to get our economy growing again. Unions and business have been crying out for years for a proper industrial strategy. The Green Prosperity Plan starts us on the road to economic recovery. And it will be a breath of fresh air to work with ministers who are actually serious about protecting and creating good jobs, and boosting skills and productivity.
But securing growth alone is not enough – we also need better living standards. Labour needs to act urgently to make work pay. We currently have over four million people who are trapped in jobs that offer little or no financial security. This is a national disgrace.
The UK’s long experiment with a low-wage, low-rights economy has been terrible for productivity and workers alike. Labour’s New Deal for Working People – delivered in full – will help end the Tories’ race to the bottom on employment standards.
A race to the bottom that has allowed good employers to be undercut by the bad, and scandals like the illegal sacking of 800 seafarers at P&O Ferries go unpunished. Labour’s plans will be a genuine gamechanger. Employment rights from day one. A ban on zero-hours contracts. An end to fire and rehire. New rights for unions to access the workplace. And the scrapping of anti-union legislation.
These are all part of a comprehensive new package of rights that will be good for workers, good for businesses and good for the UK economy. Inevitably there will be some siren voices in the business community who will seek to delay and water down this legislation. But it is vital Labour stays the course and ignores the doomsayers.
All the tired arguments that have been made against improved rights and protections at work echo those used against the minimum wage – now widely acknowledged to be one of the great policy successes of the last 25 years.
The naysayers were wrong then and they are wrong now. It is also vital that immediate work begins on repairing our crumbling public realm. At the heart of the pressures on our schools, hospitals, prisons and social care system is a huge workforce crisis. Across the NHS and social care alone there are nearly 300,000 staffing vacancies and in education the number of teaching vacancies has more than doubled in the past three years.
With morale at rock bottom – after more than a decade of Tory vandalism and neglect – Labour has the chance to signal a new direction of travel. We’ve already seen really encouraging commitments on scrapping tax breaks for private schools to fund new teachers in the state sector, and on closing non-dom loopholes to help bring down waiting lists. It’s no secret though that I want the party to go further and that we explore all funding options for rebuilding our public services.
The TUC has previously called for a national conversation on taxing wealth and I remain convinced that policies like equalising Capital Gains Tax with the taxes paid on earnings could bring in much-needed revenues. People voted in this election because they wanted real change – and Reform’s populist insurgence is a timely warning of what happens when governments fail to act.
And this question of delivery is the crux of the matter. After 14 years of national decline the country has finally got the Labour government it desperately needs. I know how ambitious Keir Starmer and his team are to improve working people’s lives, and the trade union movement wants to work with them.
Of course there will be moments of tension. That comes with being a critical friend. Our job is to speak up for working people and our members and to make sure their voices are heard at the heart of government – even when the message is difficult.
But the prospect of national renewal is real. Decent jobs, strong public services, a brighter, fairer future for all our children. The work will be hard and it starts today – but together we can realise a better future.
Analysis shows number of kids growing up in poverty in working households increased by 44% (+900,000) between 2010 and 2023
Union body says a “toxic combination” of pay stagnation, rising insecure work and cuts to social security have had a “devastating impact on family budgets”
TUC calls for urgent economic reset and for a government that “makes work pay”
Child poverty in working households has increased by over 1,300 a week, on average, since 2010 – according to new TUC analysis published yesterday.
The analysis shows that the number of kids living in poverty with at least one parent in work increased by 900,000 (44%) between 2010 and 2023 – the equivalent to 1,350 a week.
The TUC says in 2023 there were 3 million kids in working households living below the breadline in the UK.
Children growing up in poverty in working households now account for:
69% of all children in poverty
24% of all children in working households
“Toxic combination”
The TUC says that a “toxic combination” of wage stagnation, rising insecure work and cuts to social security have had a “devastating impact” on family budgets.
Real wages are still worth less today than in 2008 and the union body estimates that had they grown at their pre-crisis trend since the Tories took power the average worker would be over £14,000 a year better off.
And separate analysis from the TUC shows that the number of people in insecure work, low-paid work has increased by nearly 1 million during the Conservatives’ time in office to a record 4.1 million.
Economic reset
The TUC says Britain urgently needs an economic reset.
It highlighted the importance of Labour’s New Deal for Working People and Green Prosperity Plan in creating good jobs and helping make work pay.
And it called on political parties to make reducing child poverty a national priority.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “No child in Britain should be growing up below the breadline.
“But under the Conservatives we have seen a huge in rise in working families being pushed into poverty.
“A toxic combination of pay stagnation, rising insecure work and cuts to social security have had a devastating impact on family budgets.
“We urgently need an economic reset and a government that will make work pay. Reducing child poverty must be a priority in the years ahead.”
1 in 8 workers now in employment that offers little or no security, says union body
Insecure work has risen nearly three times faster than secure forms of employment since 2011, analysis shows
TUC accuses Conservatives of presiding over a “race to the bottom” on employment standards
Union body says New Deal for Working People urgently needed
The number of people in insecure work has reached a record high of 4.1 million, according to new TUC analysis.
The analysis of official statistics shows the number of people in precarious employment – such as zero-hours-contracts, low-paid self-employment and casual/seasonal work – increased by nearly one million between 2011 and 2023.
Over that period insecure work rose nearly three times faster than secure forms of employment. While the numbers in insecure work increased by 31%, those in secure employment increased by just 11%.
The TUC estimates that 1 in 8 workers in the UK are now employed in precarious employment. However, in some parts of the country, such as the West Midlands and the South West, this number has risen to 1 in 7.
Low-paid industries have fuelled most of the growth
The growth in insecure work since 2011 has been fuelled mainly by lower-paid sectors of the economy.
In care, leisure, service occupations and elementary occupations the number of people in precarious employment has rocketed by over 600,000 (+70%) since 2011.
Insecure work pay penalty
Today’s analysis also shows that people in insecure work face a severe pay penalty compared to other workers.
People on zero-hours contracts earn over a third (35%) less an hour, on average, than workers on median pay.
And the pay gap between workers in seasonal (-33%) and casual (-37%) work and median earners is also stark.
New Deal “urgently needed”
The TUC says the huge rise in insecure and low-paid work highlights the need for boosting workers’ rights and making work pay.
The union body says Labour’s New Deal for Working People would be a “game changer” if delivered in full – with the biggest upgrade in workers’ rights in a generation.
In April the Chartered Management Institute polling of managers revealed strong support for key New Deal policies:
More than 4 in 5 (82%) managers said granting workers fundamental day one rights was important.
3 in 4 (74%) managers said a ban on zero-hours contracts was important, and
3 in 4 (74%) managers said the publication of ethnicity and disability pay gaps was important.
The polling also revealed that 80% managers believe workers’ rights should be a top priority in national policies, while 83% said such changes can positively impact workplace productivity.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “We need a government that will make work pay. But over the last 14 years we have seen an explosion in insecure, low-paid work.
“The UK’s long experiment with a low-rights, low-wage economy has been terrible for growth, productivity and living standards.
“Real wages are still worth less than in 2008, and across the country people are trapped in jobs that offer little or no security.”
On the need for change, Paul added: “We must end the Conservatives’ race to the bottom on employment standards.
“The New Deal is an opportunity for a reset. Delivered in full – it would be a game changer for millions of working people.
“As well as preventing workers from being treated like throw-away labour it would stop good employers from being undercut by the bad.”
If delivered in full Labour’s New Deal will:
Strengthen collective bargaining by introducing fair pay agreements to boost pay and conditions – starting in social care.
Introduce ethnicity pay gap reporting and disability pay gap reporting.
Ban zero-hours contracts to help end the scourge of insecure work.
Give all workers day one rights on the job. Labour will scrap qualifying time for basic rights, such as unfair dismissal, sick pay, and parental leave.
Ensure all workers get reasonable notice of any change in shifts or working time, with compensation that is proportionate to the notice given for any shifts cancelled or curtailed.
Beef up enforcement by making sure the labour market enforcement bodies have the powers they need to undertake targeted and proactive enforcement work and bring civil proceedings upholding employment rights.
The latest government announcement on reforms to financial support for those with ill health or disability is misleading rhetoric. The lives of those with ill health or disability are completely misrepresented, and the language they use is divisive, (writes TUC’s ANJUM KLAIR).
The Government has deliberately confused the purpose of this benefit in order to ramp up its benefit scrounger rhetoric. PIP is not an out-of-work benefit: disabled people in full-time employment can be, and are, assessed as eligible for PIP. It assesses whether someone’s impairment or health conditions affects their day-to-day life and is intended to cover some of the additional costs incurred as a result of being disabled. It is not for assessing if you are capable of work- or work-related activity.
The idea that you can claim PIP for mild mental illness is untrue. The criteria for accessing PIP is stringent. You have to be suffering from severe mental illness. It is a complex application process and have to provide medical evidence.
If the current data is showing rising numbers of those with severe depression and anxiety claiming PIP, you don’t change the eligibility criteria to reduce claimant numbers – you look at the underlying drivers of ill health.
More than a decade of austerity under the Conservatives has resulted in crumbling public services.
The approach by government is to blame individuals. Only recently the Prime Minister attacked those too sick to work, by saying UK had a sick note culture, yet the data on workplace sickness absence does not suggest any substantial challenges.
And again, government conflates two separate areas, sick notes look at short-term illness for those in work and not long-term illness and disability. It is the rise in long-term sickness and disability which is alarming.
The ideas proposed in the consultation also include the insulting suggestion that disabled people are not to be trusted with spending their benefits on essential support. As it moves away from a fixed cash benefit and proposes to reimburse for extra costs, this also assumes that disabled people have the money to pay up front for this.
The consultation also proposes accessing treatments rather than receiving benefits for ill health, yet it is the lack of access to treatment which is exacerbating the increase in ill health. The long delays are well documented. Just for mental health support there is around1.9 million people waiting for support in England,
The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) to be abolished and eligibility for the health top-up in Universal Credit (UC) ( in this case the health element) will be passported (i.e. approved) via PIP.
The current UC Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) element will be replaced with a new UC health element.
Introduce more tailored conversations for claimants with work coaches, to enter suitable employment.
While we have issues with the validity of WCA decisions, it is supposed to assess people’s ability to work, while PIP clearly does not do this. This proposed change would amount to a huge financial cut to those not well enough to work. The IFS estimates that one million disabled or seriously unwell people who can’t get PIP would lose out by £350 a month.
Wider problems in the Government’s plan include the proposed introduction of a new personalised health conditionality approach. Disabled people will also face a higher risk of sanctions, as at present people currently identified as being unable to work and prepare for work are protected but could lose this right under the changes.
Such measures do not consider the structural barriers that stop disabled people from entering into the workplace, such as discrimination from employers, a failure to put in place reasonable adjustments, and inaccessible transport. The result will be many disabled people whose health makes it difficult or impossible to carry out work activity without a realistic chance of getting a job, being threatened with sanctions.
Separately the Government has made changes to descriptors in the WCA to apply from September 2025 for new claimants. As a result, 424,000 fewer people are expected to be assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity by 2028 to 2029.
The theme by the Conservative government is to constantly reduce eligibility to cut social security entitlement for disabled people or those with ill health. Government needs to end this cruel assault on sick and disabled people.
Sunday 1st April marked the 25th anniversary of the UK getting a minimum wage (writes TUC General Secretary PAUL NOWAK).
Nowadays when we think of the national minimum wage (NMW), we think of what is roundly accepted as one of the great policy successes of our time. But we shouldn’t kid ourselves that there was unanimity about the need to raise wages.
Britain was full of employers and employers’ organisations predicting the minimum wage would cause mass unemployment and economic ruin.
The CBI warned a NMW “could result in rising prices, business closures and unemployment”. That it would “undermine flexibility and was a poor way to tackle poverty”. They wanted all new employees to be exempted from the minimum wage for the first six months! 1
They were wrong!
The minimum wage started off at £3.60. With no loss of jobs, and no economic meltdown. And in recent years, it’s gone up substantially. And it’s done so with no negative impact on jobs.
History proved all those doomsday warnings emphatically wrong. And I think there are lessons there for all of us. So here’s three:
First: the NMW was a bold policy and we need to be equally bold for its future.
The TUC is clear, we now need to set the bar higher. That means ministers should set a bolder Low Pay Commission remit:
A target of 75 per cent of median pay.
Getting us faster towards a £15 an hour minimum wage for all.
Raising the pay of millions
Making the minimum wage a real Living Wage.
Second: sometimes we have to face down those whose instinctive reaction is to say no to measures that improve the lives of working people.
This is vital if we are going to deliver a much-needed new deal for working people in this country.
1 in 9 workers are in insecure work.
Record numbers of young people on zero hours contracts.
Seventy per cent of the kids who live in poverty have working parents.
The New Deal is the right thing to do. Not just morally, but economically. It will establish a level playing field. Stop decent employers from being undercut by the cowboys. And make sure that everyone has a secure job they can build a life on.
Just like the minimum wage, good employers have nothing to fear from the New Deal. But that hasn’t stopped some employers organisations’ warning of an economic apocalypse if Labour’s New Deal was made law. And the arguments are exactly the same as they were 25 years ago. It will cost jobs. Put employers out of business. Reduce flexibility.
The then British Hospitality Association said back in 1997 that the NMW would destroy 32,000 jobs in the industry2 . Spoiler alert: it didn’t!
They were wrong then, and they are wrong now. That’s why Labour should resist the out of touch, out of date siren voices from the 90s. Now is the time to forge a new political consensus on tackling the scourge of insecure work and deliver the New Deal in full.
Third and final lesson.
The NMW has succeeded because it has been underpinned by what might be unfashionably called social dialogue. Employers, unions, supported by independent academics, working with government to deliver a minimum wage. We could do with more of that approach today.
Our so-called flexible labour market has failed far too many people. It’s led to massive rewards at the top and stagnant wages for everyone else. Unleashed epic insecurity and in-work poverty. And actively undermined our productivity.
So it’s time for a new approach.
Time to apply the lessons of the minimum wage. Time for the New Deal for workers that Britain needs.
Salaried workers could be paid illegally low wages as minimum wage set to go up tomorrow
The TUC has warned that office workers and other salaried workers could be at risk of being “cheated” out of the minimum wage by their employer.
The warning comes ahead of the introduction of the new rate of the minimum wage from Monday 1 April.
A salaried worker – many of whom are office workers – is paid an annual salary which stays the same regardless of fluctuations in the hours they work. This is paid in equal payments, usually monthly or 4-weekly.
The TUC analysis shows that for an employer to be minimum wage compliant as of 1 April:
Workers doing 35 hours per week will have to be paid at least £20,821 a year
Workers doing 37.5 hours per week will have to be paid at least £22,308 a year
Workers doing 40 hours per week will have to be paid at least £23,795 a year
Workers doing 42.5 hours per week will have to be paid at least £25,282 a year
The TUC was easily able to find online adverts for salaried jobs still advertised below the incoming minimum wage in roles.
Minimum wage non-compliance is usually associated with jobs paid at an hourly rate where non-compliance is more prevalent.
The Low Pay Commission estimates that over 430,000 salaried workers are on the minimum wage or less. But as the minimum wage rises, many more salaried workers may be within scope – and will find that they are being illegally underpaid if their salaries do not rise.
Salaried jobs have almost doubled as a proportion of minimum wage jobs since 2015. LPC analysis finds that 14.6% of minimum wage jobs were salaried in 2015 compared to 28.8% in 2023.
Unpaid overtime
Even where salaries do go up, the TUC says many salaried workers could still be facing an additional risk of underpayment. This is because many will also be putting in hours of unpaid overtime. Although they might be paid the minimum wage or above for their contracted hours, their unpaid overtime could mean they are working hourly for less than the minimum wage.
UK employers claimed £26billion of free labour last year because of workers doing unpaid overtime, according to TUC analysis. The average weekly unpaid overtime is just over 7 hours.
That means a British salaried worker who is contracted 35 hours per week who does the typical amount of overtime would need to be paid £25,000 to be paid the minimum wage at an hourly rate.
The law sets out that employers must pay at least the minimum wage for all hours actually worked, even if they are in addition to the hours in the worker’s contract.
The TUC warns desk-based office workers are often expected to put in hours of overtime as part of their job.
Underpayment in the first month
The TUC has today warned April will likely see more than a quarter of a million workers paid less than the minimum wage this month, as the new rate of the minimum wage comes into force.
The union body says the significant scale of underpayment when a new rate comes in underlines the “urgent need for investment in our enforcement system”.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “The minimum wage is the very least employers should pay their workers. It’s their legal duty.
“But too many workers are cheated out of pay by bad bosses, who choose to pay staff illegally low rates.
“Minimum wage cheats exploit workers from a range of jobs – and desk-based office jobs are no exception.
“And to make matters worse, many desk-based workers are expected to put in hours of overtime for free. That’s not right.
“It’s time for a New Deal for Working People – like Labour is proposing – which will deliver a real living wage, boost wages across the board and beef up our enforcement system so that bad bosses can’t get away with failing to pay their staff the minimum wage.”
New TUC analysis for our 2024 Young Workers Conference shows that more than 700,000 workers aged 18-20 across the UK are set to be left out of pocket as they are paid a lower rate of the minimum wage (writes TUC’s ALICE ARKWRIGHT).
On 1 April, the National Living Wage will go up to £11.44 per hour and be extended to workers aged 21 and over. But workers under 21 will still be paid less for the same work, simply because of their age and as many as seven in ten workers aged 18-20 could lose out.
Over 700,000 18-20 year olds are paid less than this rate and they miss out on a huge £2,438 per year, or £47 per week, at a time when the cost of living is still sky high. This is completely unfair.
Young workers have been let down time and time again by this Tory government.
They have entered the labour market at a time when insecure work has exploded. Insecure work is characterised by low pay, less training and development, uncertainty in hours and fewer employment rights.
Despite only making up 11 per cent of the total workforce, young workers make up 40 per cent of the 1.18 million workers employed on a zero hours contract.
And young women and young BME workers are more likely to be on them.
Some young workers are not even being paid – a quick search of recruitment sites finds multiple internship adverts with no mention of pay, including one asking for 3 years’ experience.
Imagine working hard in a job for nearly two years – only to be let go with no recourse.
Young people are always hit hardest during times of uncertainty, which they’ve faced time and time again in the last 14 years. Youth unemployment rose dramatically after the financial crisis and more recently during the pandemic. And we are seeing it rise again. The unemployment rate is highest for young BME and young disabled workers.
A lack of decent work, training opportunities including good quality apprenticeships and careers services are keeping unemployment rates higher than they need to be and increases the risk of longer-term unemployment, which has significant scarring effects on young people’s future living standards and wellbeing.
Every day we hear stories about sexual harassment in our workplaces. 2 in 3 young women have experienced harassment at work and they are particularly at risk of harassment from third parties such as clients, customers and patients.
Last year, ministers promised to bring in a new law to put the onus on employers to keep their staff safe from this type of abuse.
But instead, they buckled to Tory backbenchers, massively watered down the legislation and let down young women across the country.
Alongside this failure to protect workers, this government have also introduced new anti-strike laws which mean a generation of young people could lose their right to strike.
We must give young people a good start at working life.
Labour’s New Deal for Working People stands in stark contrast to the Conservatives’ dire record on workers’ rights. It would:
Ban zero-hours contracts to help end the scourge of insecure work.
Ensure all workers get reasonable notice of any change in shifts or working time
Give all workers day one rights on the job, scrapping qualifying time for basic rights, such as unfair dismissal, sick pay, and parental leave for all workers.
Remove the discriminatory age bands from the minimum wage to ensure every adult worker benefits from fair pay.
Ban unpaid internships; and
Require employers to ensure workplaces are free from harassment, including by third parties.
And Labour have committed to reform the National Careers Service and the failed Apprenticeships Levy into a ‘Growth and Skills Levy’ that works across all nations and regions.
At Young Workers Conference, members from across our movement will debate what a better future for young people looks like and the need for this transformative New Deal.
On 18 March, the TUC wrote to Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch in response to the news that the UK continues to be in active trade talks with Israel (writes TUC’s Rosa Crawford).
The government concluded the latest round at the end of February.
The TUC believes trade negotiations must be used to ensure respect for human rights and international law.
Since the UK launched trade talks on an updated trade agreement with Israel in March 2022, the TUC has consistently stated it does not believe the government should engage in these negotiations, given Israel’s persistent violation of international law, UN resolutions and systematic violations of Palestinian labour and human rights.
In light of the Israeli government’s military operations in Gaza in recent months where these violations have intensified, our letter calls for the government to:
end trade talks with Israel
end arms sales and military collaboration
end the UK’s trade in goods from the Occupied Palestinian Territories
On 26 January the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found it ‘plausible’ that Israel’s acts could amount to genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza and issued binding provisional measures.
The UK government has an obligation as a party to the Genocide Convention to take measures to prevent genocide. It is therefore incumbent on the government to ensure Israel acts in accordance with the ICJ ruling.
Our letter follows the TUC’s General Council statement unequivocally condemning the shocking attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas, calling for the immediate, unconditional release of all hostages unharmed, and calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
In February the TUC wrote to the Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron calling for an immediate ceasefire accompanied by a political process. It expressed disappointment the UK government had so far failed to support such a ceasefire.
The TUC calls on the government to support genuine efforts towards a just, lasting and comprehensive peace that is consistent with international law, and is based on a two-state solution, which promotes equality, democracy and respect for human and labour rights.
controversial two-child limit on benefits a key driver, says CPAG
YESTERDAY’Sofficial poverty statistics show child poverty has reached a record high with an estimated 100,000 more children pulled into poverty last year.
The DWP’s annual Households Below Average Income shows 4.3 million children (30%) were in poverty in the year to April 2023. It shows:
100,000 more children were pulled into relative poverty (after housing costs). That means 4.3 million children (30% of all UK children) were in poverty – up from 3.6 million in 2010-11.
69% of poor children live in working families
46% of children in families with 3 or more children are in poverty, up from 36% in 2011/12.
Poor families have fallen deeper into poverty: 2.9 million children were in deep poverty (i.e. with a household income below 50% of after-housing-costs equivalised median income) 600,000 more than in 2010/11
36% of all children in poverty were in families with a youngest child aged under five
47% of children in Asian and British Asian families are in poverty, 51% of children in Black/ African/ Caribbean and Black British families, and 24% of children in white families
44% of children in lone parent families were in poverty
34% of children living in families where someone has a disability were in poverty
Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group and Vice-Chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition, said: “In a general election year, nothing should be more important to our political leaders than making things better for the country’s poorest kids.
“But child poverty has reached a record high, with 4.3million kids now facing cold homes and empty tummies.
“We know that change is possible but we need to see a commitment from all parties to scrap the two child limit and increase child benefits. Anything less would be a betrayal of Britain’s children.”
Liv Eren 20, who grew up in poverty, says: “As an 8-year-old I couldn’t go on the school trip, as a 12-year- old I was wearing last year’s school blazer and that feeling – that knock to your self-esteem – never really leaves you.
“People say growing up in hardship can motivate you, but what could I do aged 8 or 12?. It’s awful.”
Schools are seeing the effects of rising child poverty every day.
Tom Prestwich, Headteacher at Jubilee Primary School in Lambeth said: The levels of poverty we are seeing in school now and the numbers of children affected by it, are the worst I have seen.
“This can have a significant impact on our pupils’ ability to learn and on their overall wellbeing. Pupils who are coming to school hungry, pupils who are overtired because they are struggling to sleep in difficult home conditions, pupils who are cold or uncomfortable because of the clothes they have to wear are all at a disadvantage right from the start of their day.
“We do as much as we can to counteract this. We have breakfast clubs, give out fruit and bagels every day, give out old uniforms and support as much as we can with parents battling for improved housing but it does feel like the gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged families is widening.
“This is happening at a time when school budgets are ever more stretched and our capacity to help and support families is reduced as a result.”
Simon Kidwell, head teacher at Hartford Manor Primary School in Cheshire, and president of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “At my school even working families are accessing local food banks and seeking support with uniform and school trip expenses.
“We hear from our members how schools are increasingly finding themselves having to step in and support pupils and families, with local authority budgets stretched to breaking point.”
In addition to the rise in relative child poverty (measured as living on less than 60% of today’s median income) the DWP’s figures show an increase in the number of children in absolute poverty (measured as living on less than 60% of what the median income was in 2010).
Since absolute poverty should always reduce over time as living standards generally rise, the increase is a clear warning that not only are more children being dragged below the relative poverty line, but living standards for children are falling over time, their hardship deepening.
Commenting on the publication of the latest official figures on UK poverty, which show that the number of people living below the poverty line in working households is 1.6 million higher than in 2010, TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:“Hard work should pay for everyone. But millions of working families in this country are struggling to cover even the basics.
“In-work poverty has rocketed over the last 14 years.
“The Tories have presided over epidemic levels of insecure work, brutal cuts to social security and years of feeble wage growth.
“Working people deserve far better.”
Households Below Average Income statistics can be found here:
Latest Accredited Official Statistics and Official Statistics published
Covering the period until March 2023, the latest statistics show little recent change in poverty levels for children and pensioners. Poverty for working-age adults is slightly higher than in recent years, which could be driven by people becoming economically inactive as a result of the pandemic.
The four child poverty measures in the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act (relative and absolute poverty, combined low income and material deprivation, and persistent poverty) are broadly stable over the recent period. These measures are based on single-year figures which tend to fluctuate year on year, and the three-year averages provide a robust indication of trends.
While the poverty risk is much lower for children where someone in the household is in paid work compared to those in workless households, not all work pays enough to lift the household above the poverty line. Over two thirds of children in poverty live in a household with someone in paid work. This proportion has increased markedly over the past decade or so as more people move into employment.
Other key points are:
Working-age adults (21%) and pensioners (15%) are less likely to be in relative poverty after housing costs compared to children (24%).
Relative poverty has been broadly stable for all age groups. Adults under 25 are more likely to be in poverty than older adults.
Minority ethnic households are more likely to be in poverty compared to white British households. Muslim adults have higher rates of poverty compared to adults of Christian and those with no religion. Some of this difference may be explained by these households being younger.
The two full statistical publications are available here:
Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland contains statistics on poverty, child poverty, poverty risks for various equality characteristics, household income and income inequality for Scotland. This report also includes statistics on household food security.
The data comes from the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Family Resources Survey, Households Below Average Income dataset. Comparable UK income and poverty figures are published on the same day by DWP.
Figures are presented as three-year averages of each estimate. Three-year estimates best identify trends over time. Data collected during the year between April 2020 and March 2021 are excluded from the most recent estimates as response rates were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, estimates covering this period are for two years rather than three.
The four child poverty measures in the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act are based on single-year figures. These are available in the reference tables and in the child poverty summary.
Persistent Poverty in Scotland presents estimates of the proportion of people in Scotland who live in persistent poverty. The data comes from the Understanding Society Survey, and the latest statistics cover the period from 2018 to 2022.
These poverty statistics are used by the Scottish Government and other organisations to monitor progress in tackling poverty and child poverty, and to analyse what drives poverty and what works for tackling poverty and income inequality.
Relative poverty: A person is in relative poverty if their current household income is less than 60% of the current UK median. Increases in the proportion of people living in relative poverty indicate that the gap between the poorest and middle income households is widening.
Absolute poverty: A person is in absolute poverty if their current household income is less than 60% of the UK median in 2010/11, adjusted for inflation. Increases in the proportion of people living in absolute poverty indicate that prices are rising faster than the incomes of the poorest households.
Combined low income and material deprivation identifies the number of children in families that cannot afford basic essential goods and services because of a low income (below 70 percent of the middle household income).
Persistent poverty identifies the number of people in relative poverty for three or more out of four years. People who live in poverty for several years may be affected by it through their lifetime.
Household income is adjusted for household size.
The poverty publications present poverty figures before and after housing costs. Before housing costs figures are a basic measure of household income from earnings and benefits. After housing costs figures subtract spending on rents, mortgage interest payments and other unavoidable housing costs from this basic income.
In Scotland, poverty statistics focus mainly on poverty after housing costs. The poverty estimates in the child poverty summary refer to relative poverty after housing costs.
