Families on breadline must work eight days a week to escape it

New research has found that 300,000 low-income families with children are trapped in poverty despite the parents working full time.

The analysis by charity Action for Children shows that an average low-income family where every parent was already working full-time would need to squeeze in an extra 19 hours a week to escape the breadline – equivalent to working an eight-day week.

While the government continues to claim that the best way to stop children growing up poor is to ‘ensure that they do not grow up in a workless household’, the analysis of official figures reveals there are around 300,000 families with children living in poverty in the UK despite every parent being in full-time employment.

As well as looking at the number of extra hours needed to escape poverty, the research looked at earnings. It found the average low-income family where every parent worked full time would need a weekly pay rise of £168 (£8,736 more a year) to clear the poverty line – and over a quarter would need to earn more than £300 extra a week (over £15,600 more annually).

Factors keeping full-time working parents in poverty include low pay and job quality, ethnicity, geographic location and inescapable costs like housing and disability:

• Nearly a quarter of parents within these low-income families were self-employed. Without protections like the minimum wage, holiday or sick pay, the self-employed are particularly at risk of poverty wages. The analysis shows nearly eight in ten self-employed parents working full-time below the breadline are earning less than minimum wage.

The research estimates there are 41,000 low-income families in full-time work who are trapped in poverty because at least one adult is self-employed with very low or even negative earnings (business losses).

• Nearly half of those in poverty working full-time were single parent families, and nearly one in five were from London
• Low-income parents in full-time work are much more likely to be in caring, leisure and other service roles like cleaning, as well as significantly less likely to be in professional roles than the wider population of full-time workers. Nearly one in four are employed in the health and social work sector
• The figures show that for this group of families, their housing costs are on average £28 a week higher than other households with children. But even if all their housing costs were reduced to zero, two fifths would still be in poverty.

Action for Children chief executive Paul Carberry said: ‘Our research shows we need to be honest about why so many children are growing up poor and confront the myth that work alone is a passport out of poverty.

‘In this election year, this is something all political parties must address. Further research is needed into the financial challenges facing these working families so we can find more targeted and effective solutions.

‘This should be part of a wider programme of reform that strengthens the social security system and tackles the barriers to work and opportunity that are keeping families trapped in poverty.’

Image: Juliane Liebermann 

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