When work doesn’t pay – MPs reveal link between zero-hours contracts and food banks

Heidi Allen MP and Frank Field MP are presenting to Parliament a bill which offers guaranteed weekly hours to workers on zero-hours contracts.

 

The bill, which is co-sponsored by a cross-party group of 23 MPs, is accompanied by evidence being published today by Feeding Britain, a charity set up by MPs and Peers to counter hunger in this country, which reveals a troubling link between zero-hours contracts and the need for food banks.

 

Among the testimonies received by Feeding Britain were:

 

 

Heidi comments: ‘There is a place for zero-hours contracts in our labour market, especially for people who only want a couple of hours’ work each week or are working flexibly on a temporary basis. But many other people, who rely on earnings from zero-hours contracts, now feel trapped in a life of insecurity and precariousness which all too often means they need to seek help from food banks. That’s why Frank and I are trying to give them a legal right to guaranteed minimum hours, if they want them, so that nobody has to feel trapped by their working arrangements.’

 

Frank adds: ‘This bill would immediately cut off one of the main supply routes to hunger and destitution. What a growing number of food banks and social supermarkets tell us is that workers on zero-hours contracts are short of money at different times of the month, because their income falls way below what they need to pay the rent as well as all of the other bills coming their way. It is impossible for workers to budget or plan ahead when their hours and earnings are so volatile. We need the new Prime Minister to offer greater legal protection to these workers by giving them the right to a more secure contract.’

 

ENDS

 

 

Notes