600,000 working age people in the South West are living in poverty

Proportions of workers in (1) working age poverty and (2) unemployment for UK nations and regions*

* A worker is considered in working age poverty if their household income is less than 60% of median household income (after housing costs).

Source: Poverty figures are taken from Households Below Average Incomes 1994/95-2016/17 and unemployment figures from the Labour Force Survey, both of which are publications of the Office for National Statistics.

• HBAI provides data at national level for the proportion of working age adults living below the poverty line that have at least one adult in work. Today’s new data shows that for 2016/17 it was 60%, meaning that the majority of working age people living below the poverty line are in households with work. The data sample is not large enough to be able to give this sub-categorisation at regional level.

• The TUC is calling on the government to improve pay and increase the supply of well-paid work by:
  • Increasing the minimum wage to £10 as quickly as possible
  • Giving all public-sector workers a fully funded proper pay rise, after years of pay cuts
  • Raising public investment to the OECD average of 3.5% of GDP, so that the UK has the infrastructure needed to attract business and create well-paid jobs
  • Establishing a National Investment Bank, with a remit to target communities where good quality and well-paid jobs are most needed
  • Strengthening collective bargaining rights for workers, and setting up new bodies to negotiate pay in sectors where low pay is endemic, such as hospitality, agricultural labour and care work

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.