, Labour’s Shadow Work
and Pensions Secretary, responding to the latest figures on low
income households published by the government today, said:
“These figures are shocking: even before the current crisis there
was a sharp rise in the number of people in poverty as a result
of an increase amongst working-age adults.
“The government repeatedly says that work is the best route out
of poverty and boasts of a jobs miracle. These figures lay bare
the truth. After the four-year freeze of working-age benefits,
poverty has increased and food bank use has soared.
“If the government does not urgently get to grips with the flood
of new Universal Credit claims and provide financial support for
all workers, when figures are published in the future they will
show a picture of even more people pushed into poverty and left
at risk of destitution by this crisis.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
The latest official poverty measures published by the Government
this morning, for Households Below Average Income, show that the
number of people in relative low income after housing costs (AHC)
rose by 500,000 and absolute low income AHC by 400,000.
The key rise amongst specific age groups was amongst working-age
adults where the number of people in both relative and absolute
low income AHC rose by 400,000.
The HBAI figures can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-199495-to-201819
