Low-earning parents working full-time are still unable to earn enough to provide their family with a basic, no-frills lifestyle, research suggests.
A single parent on the National Living Wage is £74 a week short of the minimum income needed, according to the Child Poverty Action Group.
A couple with two children would be £49 a week short of the income needed, the charity said. But this was better than last year, when couples were £59 a week short.
The National Living Wage is £7.83 an hour for those aged over 25.
A government spokesperson said fewer families were living in absolute poverty: “The employment rate is at a near-record high and the National Living Wage has delivered the highest pay increase for the lowest paid in 20 years, worth £2,000 extra per year for a full-time worker.”
However, the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) said gains from modest increases in wages had been “clawed back” through the freezing of tax credits. Rising prices and changes to various benefit schemes had also “hit family budgets hard”, it said. Read more
