One million children in key worker households reside in poverty

New TUC studies have found that over a million children of key workers are currently living in poverty, with key worker families within the North East the hardest hit.

he research, which used the federal government definition for key workers, found that in some regions greater than a quarter of kids in key worker households are living in poverty. Key worker families within the North East possess the highest rate of kid poverty (29 percent), followed by London (27 per cent), the West Midlands (25 %) and Yorkshire and also the Humber (25 %).

The TUC says the primary reasons for key worker family poverty are low pay and insecure hours – factors that often coincide in occupations such as care workers, delivery drivers or supermarket staff.

The union also warns that current government coverage is prone to increase child poverty rates. Ministers have capped pay rises for key workers in the public sector, which in some instances will mean real wage losses. And also the chancellor is likely to cut Universal Credit for low-income families by £20 each week in October.

The TUC is looking around the government to guarantee decent living standards for key worker families by: raising the national minimum wage to £10 each hour immediately; ending the freeze on public service workers’ pay and give all public service workers a decent pay rise; funding the general public sector so that all freelancing are paid a minimum of the actual Living Wage and obtain parity with directly employed staff; and canceling the £20 cut to Universal Credit, which is set hitting low-income families in October, and set out plans to increase child benefit above inflation each year over the Parliament.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Every key worker deserves a decent standard of living for their family. But all too often their effort isn't paying down like it should. Plus they struggle to keep up with the basic costs of family life.

“The best Minister has promised to ‘build back fairer’. He should start with our key workers. They put themselves in harm’s method to keep your country going through the pandemic. Now, we must be there for them too. This isn’t nearly doing right thing by key workers. If we put more money in the pockets of working families, their spending can help our businesses and streets recover. It’s the fuel within the tank that our economy needs.”