One in six British workers are skipping meals to make ends meet, as household budgets remain strained by soaring prices for food, energy and other essentials.
Underscoring the impact of the cost of living crisis on working households, Trades Union Congress (TUC) statistics show that 17% of full-time or part-time workers have skipped meals in the past three months to reduce spending. Ta.
A survey of more than 2,500 working adults carried out by YouGov on behalf of trade union umbrella organizations in the week before Christmas found that one in 10 said they skipped meals every day or almost every day.
The TUC said the findings showed the legacy of “14 years of Tory stagnation” and was critical to Labour's plans to strengthen workers' rights as part of the most sweeping employment law reforms in a generation. He said that he emphasized gender.
Pressure is mounting on Keir Starmer's government to find ways to grow the economy after a week of financial market turmoil sent Britain's borrowing costs to the highest level in decades.
Prime Minister Rachel Reeves has given ministers a plan to boost growth amid concerns that a weak economic outlook, stubborn inflation and rising borrowing costs could force her to break her own fiscal rules. A draft was requested.
Mr Reeves is understood to have met with business leaders last week to highlight his priority of “working collaboratively” with businesses. A senior Treasury official said businesses were being asked to submit growth policy ideas before the finance minister gives a major speech later this month.
Chancellor Reeves has announced plans to balance the budget amid warnings that a sharp rise in borrowing costs could wipe out the entire £10bn buffer to fiscal rules secured in the autumn budget. It is believed that one option is to reduce public spending.
Union leaders fear the government could come under pressure from industry groups to water down the workers' rights reform package as a “low-cost” option to help businesses weather the crisis economic outlook. are.
Business leaders have stepped up their lobbying efforts on the issue in recent weeks, complaining that they have been treated like a “cash cow” since Labor came to power. They say jobs and growth will be hit by the Chancellor's £25bn increase in employer national insurance contributions and the minimum wage hike announced in the Budget.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak urged Labor to “get serious” about worker rights reforms, including banning zero-hour contracts and introducing protections for the first day of work.
Union leaders believe that raising employment rights will make the UK economy more productive by making jobs more secure for workers and at the same time freeing up more money to spend on goods and services.
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“After 14 years of Tory turmoil and stagnation, we urgently need to improve living standards and put more money in people’s pockets. This is both for workers and for local economies. It’s extremely important,” Nowak said. “We cannot continue with the broken status quo.”
Average wage growth over the past year has outpaced inflation, helping to shore up the finances of working households, which have suffered the biggest hit to living standards on record dating back to the 1950s.
However, prices for food, energy, and essential goods are still significantly higher than they were before the cost of living crisis took hold. Wage increases over the past 15 years have also left workers worse off than they would have been had wages continued to rise at the rate they were before the 2008 financial crisis.
The TUC said real wages had grown by just 0.3% a year under the Conservative government, compared with 1.5% from 1997 to 2010. At the same time, workplace poverty has soared, and the number of people in precarious work has increased by 1 million. It will reach 4.1 million people between 2011 and 2023.
“All workers have the right to a decent living, but many working families struggle to make ends meet,” Nowak added. “That's why the government's 'getting paid for your work' policy is so important.”
