John Hannett – Usdaw General Secretary says: “The Government has some very serious questions to answer about the future incomes of low-paid working families, so we welcome Labour holding them to account in a House of Commons debate.

“We were delighted to have won the argument on tax credits cuts, having forced the Government into a u-turn, but Universal Credit is a ticking time bomb that will leave many working families much worse-off when they are transferred onto Universal Credit.”

“We will be watching the debate closely to see what the Government is going to do to protect the incomes of many of our members and millions of working families across the UK.”

Analysis from the House of Commons Library shows the cuts will mean a single mother of two working full-time on the minimum wage will lose £2,400.

Further analysis by Liverpool Economics shows that from April cuts to the work allowance will also mean an annual reduction of £2,000 a year in support for disabled people in work.

Usdaw’s own analysis reveals that a parent couple, both working in retail, earning just above the so-called National Living Wage, one working full-time and one part-time, would be £1,866 worse off on Universal Credit.

Notes for editors:

Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fourth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 440,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 17% in the last five years and by nearly a third in the last decade. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the Union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.

For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion