It’s wrong that so many working families are trapped in poverty – it’s time for action
April 1, 2019
The latest official poverty stats from the Government for 2017/18 make for grim reading again this year. But with all eyes on Parliamentary Brexit machinations, it’s likely that many are going to miss seeing these vital figures. With 14 million people still locked in poverty across the UK, it’s shameful that this problem is not being tackled in the way it so sorely needs and deserves. There can be no more excuses for inaction. Three in four children in poverty have a working parent. Despite record employment, the proportion of children in poverty with working parents has now reached an all-time high of 72%. Two decades ago that was barely half. These changes have very little to do with Universal Credit (for good or ill) because it’s not being received by enough people yet to show up strongly in the figures. But given the National Living Wage has been increasing each year and employment has been rising across the UK, why are so many families getting swept into working poverty? Read more.
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