Why so many are struggling in poverty
Aug 11 2008 by Kevin Rowan, The Journal
THE new Mayor of London has agreed to continue support for the ‘London Living Wage’, an independently calculated minimum income that determines an “adequate level of warmth and shelter, a healthy palatable diet, social integration and avoidance of chronic stress for earners and their dependents.” This equates to £7.45 per hour, almost £2 per hour above the current national minimum wage rate for adults or £5.52.
Tackling poverty seems to be higher up the political agenda than it has been for some time as successive Labour governments appear to be struggling to meet their own child poverty eradication targets. While last month’s industrial action was as much about persistent poverty pay in the sector as it was about anything else.
A new report from the influential Joseph Rowntree Foundation offers one of the most meaningful reports on poverty and income for some time. A Minimum Income Standard for Britain: What People Think, discovered that according to members of the public, a single person in Britain today needs to earn at least £13,400 a year before tax to afford a basic but acceptable standard of living. This “minimum income standard”, based on the extensive deliberations of ordinary people supported by experts, shows the cost of covering basic goods and services for different household types.
Thirty-nine groups from different kinds of household (such as families with children, pensioners and single people) had detailed discussions about the necessary elements of a household budget. Experts looked at these budgets to ensure that they provided an adequate diet and met basic needs like keeping a home warm.
Participants in this study were clear that a minimum living standard should provide for more than mere survival.
One older woman taking part in the research summed up this view: “Food and shelter keeps you alive, it doesn’t make you live.” Findings from this extensive consultation showed that a single person without children needs to spend £158 a week, and a couple with two children £370 a week, not including rent or mortgage, to afford this budget on top of rent on a modest council home. The single person would need to earn £13,400 a year before tax and the couple with two children £26,800.
Workers on the lowest grades in the public sector fall below this minimum income standard, those earning NMW rates would need to work 47 hours a week to stay just above this poverty level. It is no wonder then that there are such high numbers of people who are in work, but still in poverty.
Both public sector pay rates and the NMW are within the gift of Government to affect. There is a clear case for a significant increase in the minimum rates in both if this Government is to seriously tackle poverty – £13,400 on a 35 hour week equates to £7.36 per hour. That should be the minimum for all workers.
