Public sector job losses are a tragedy for families, says TUC

date: 6 March 2013

embargo: For immediate release

Commenting on figures published today (Wednesday) by the Office for National Statistics which show that public sector employment has fallen across all parts of England and Wales, TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady said:

'Such severe reductions in public sector employment are a real tragedy for those families whose relatives have lost their jobs, and will continue to damage local communities for many years to come.

'In those parts of the UK where workers are more likely to be employed in the public sector the hit to businesses and shops on local high streets has been devastating as the newly unemployed rein in their spending, and falling real wages and fear of redundancy force other families to cut back.

'With libraries, Sure Start centres, youth clubs, charities and arts groups all facing the axe, valuable services that people have come to rely upon are disappearing. And with the Office for Budget Responsibility predicting that over a million public sector jobs will go by 2018, and the private sector unlikely to be able to create enough jobs to compensate, the future doesn't look bright.'

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