Study showing 10million are living on the breadline proves that Britain needs a pay rise

Making ends meet: Poverty remains a huge problem
Mirrorpix

However many times the Chancellor says the opposite, we are not all in this together.

This shocking report shows that more than 10 million people now do not have enough money to enjoy a basic minimum standard of living.

Cuts in tax credits and the freeze in child benefit have driven millions of working households into poverty.

And soon even those who have paid in for years will be made to wait five weeks for benefits if they lose their job.

It’s even worse for the young. The housing shortage has driven up rents. Youth unemployment remains high – not to mention those who have studied hard yet can only find insecure work way below their skill level.

Zero-hours contracts, agency work and short-term contracts mean millions do not know from one week to the next how much they will earn or whether they will have a job at all.

Yet those at the top have had their income tax cut – and big bonuses returned to the City long ago.



Pay rise time: TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady


At long last the economy is beginning to grow, but just as we did not fairly share the pain, the gain looks like it will be just as unfairly shared out.

And while unemployment continues to fall, people’s chances of having a job have decreased in regions as different as the North East and South West.

There is one clear policy which can help deepen recovery and share out its proceeds, and that is higher pay.

Even George Osborne now wants to see the minimum wage go back to what it was worth under Labour.

But we need much more than that. We should pay the Living Wage in sectors that can afford it, plan for better-paid and higher-skilled jobs, and spread the collective bargaining that gives workers a real voice.

Britain needs a pay rise

Check out all the latest News, Sport & Celeb gossip at Mirror.co.uk http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tuc-general-secretary-frances-ogrady-3055598#ixzz2rLG6IsFb
Follow us: @DailyMirror on Twitter | DailyMirror on Facebook

Britain needs a Labour government.