Poverty in the Public Sector

 More than one in four children with care worker parents are growing up in poverty, according to the TUC. 220,000 children – 28.4% – with at least one social care worker as a parent were in poverty and said the number was on course to rise to nearly 300,000 by the end of this parliament unless action was taken to improve pay and conditions in the sector.

The TUC said one in five key worker households, or 19%, have children living in poverty, with poverty especially prevalent in families where parents are nurses and public transport workers.

 50,000 children (25%) with public transport workers as parents are growing up in poverty and more than 100,000 children (10.8%) with teaching staff as parents are living in poverty.

The TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said “Our amazing key workers risked their lives to get us through the pandemic. The very least they deserve is to be able to provide for their families. But many have been trapped in poverty and abandoned by this government...We can’t be a country where bankers are allowed to help themselves to bigger bonuses, while nurses and care staff are forced to use food banks..."

The TUC predicted that child poverty rates among key worker households would worsen unless action was taken to improve pay and conditions, after ministers announced another year of real-terms pay cuts for millions of key workers in the public sector.

 Public sector earnings have fallen in real terms by 4.3% since the financial crisis, with some professions experiencing falls of as much as 13%.

One in four children of UK care workers living in poverty, TUC finds | UK cost of living crisis | The Guardian