Professor Philip Alston’s report went on to say: “In-work poverty is increasingly common and almost 60% of those in poverty in the UK are in families where someone works. There are 2.8 million people living in poverty in families where all adults work full time. Families with two parents working full time at the national minimum wage are still 11% short of the income needed to raise a child. Low wages, insecure jobs, and zero hour contracts mean that even at record unemployment there are still 14 million people in poverty.”
Paddy Lillis, Usdaw General Secretary says: “This report is both welcome and shocking in equal measure and should make the Government sit up and listen. It picks up on many of the issues we are raising through Usdaw’s Time for Better Pay campaign.
“Usdaw made a submission to Professor Alston prior to his visit, in which we shared the results of our survey and raised our serious concerns about low pay and insecure work, in particular its disproportionate impact on women, and the link between low pay and mental health problems.
“We also pointed out the fundamental flaws within the Universal Credit system, including the particular issues faced by those of our members who are paid four-weekly and can have their Universal Credit payment stopped in some months as a result. I am pleased that Professor Alston has drawn attention to the hardship caused by Universal Credit and recommended that the weekly or fortnightly payments should be facilitated.
“The UN report picked up on many of the issues that Usdaw is campaigning on. For many workers, low hourly pay isn’t the only concern, it’s also that workers aren’t getting the hours they need to make a living. Short-hours contracts are now the norm, with two thirds of workers in retail regularly working hours that aren’t guaranteed in their contract. Workers on short-hours contracts are struggling now, but for many, things are about to get much worse.
“It is not right that the worker putting food on the supermarket shelves is worrying about whether they can put food on the table for their family. Yet we have a Government that doesn’t even accept this is a problem and I hope this report will change that. We need to end the scourge of in-work poverty, now is the time for better pay.”
Usdaw’s ‘Time for Better Pay’ campaign seeks to tackle the causes of in-work poverty and seeks to develop an economy where work pays. Based on evidence from our survey of over 10,000 workers, the campaign is calling for four key actions:
- £10 per hour minimum wage for all workers over 18.
- Minimum contract of 16 hours per week for all employees who want it
- The right to a contract based on an individual’s normal hours of work
- An end to the misuse of zero hour contracts.
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with around 430,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 28% over the 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