Wage growth must be higher priority to end child poverty for working families in North West, says TUC
Commenting on figures published today (Wednesday) by the End Child Poverty campaign, which maps out the local impacts of national increases in child poverty, TUC North West Regional Secretary Lynn Collins said:
“These statistics show the stark reality for far too many families here in the North West.
“The rising numbers of children living in poverty should send a strong message to politicians and decision makers. They’ve been pushed into this by the impact of government welfare reforms and cuts to real wages.
“To see places like Blackburn and Manchester feature in the UK top ten shows that this isn’t a problem isolated to just one part of the country. We need solutions across the region to lift people out poverty.
“Children and their parents deserve better. We need a government that will make wage growth a higher priority and provide a proper safety net to keep all children out of poverty. Here in the region we can do more – making sure good employers pay fair wages and spreading collective bargaining to make work pay for more people.”
Notes to editors:
- End Child Poverty: Their national press release and regional figures can be found here http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/poverty-in-your-area-2019/
- Child poverty and working families: The most recent official data on UK poverty, published by the Office for National Statistics on 28 March 2019, showed that 57% (8 million people) of those living in poverty are in working families.
- Wages growth by sector: TUC analysis published on Tuesday 14 May shows that public sector workers are amongst the hardest hit for real wage losses in the last decade. Average real pay is up £120 per week from 2009 to 2019 in the financial sector. But it is down by £36 per week in both the health and education sectors. Average pay across all sectors is down £17 per week. The average wage across all sectors is down by £17 per week.
- About the TUC: The Trades Union Congress (TUC) exists to make the working world a better place for everyone. We bring together more than 5.5 million working people who make up our 49 member unions. We support unions to grow and thrive, and we stand up for everyone who works for a living.
Contacts:
Jay McKenna
jmckenna@tuc.org.uk
0151 428 2710
07788 414 578
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