{"id":15977,"date":"2018-08-21T15:31:02","date_gmt":"2018-08-21T14:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=15977"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:58:17","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:58:17","slug":"full-time-minimum-wage-child-poverty-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=15977","title":{"rendered":"‘No-frills’ lifestyle out of reach"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

The government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so-called National \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Living Wage\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (NLW) is anything but, as new research shows families with two parents working full-time on the statutory minimum will not earn enough to support their children.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A report from the Child Action Poverty Group (CAPG)<\/a> published on Monday (August 20) found that a household of two parents working full time on the NLW \u00e2\u20ac\u201c now set at \u00c2\u01417.83 for those aged 25 and over \u00e2\u20ac\u201c will fall nearly \u00c2\u014150 short each week of providing a family of two children with a basic, no-frills lifestyle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Single parents working full-time on the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s minimum wage will be even worse off \u00e2\u20ac\u201c their weekly shortfall rises to \u00c2\u014174.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Since 2012, the CPAG has calculated the cost of raising a child based on the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098minimum income standard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, which includes not only rent and food but other necessities that people believe are needed to participate in society.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The total cost of a couple raising a child now until they reached 18 is \u00c2\u0141150,800, down from last year when the overall cost was \u00c2\u0141155,100.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The cost of childcare was flagged as the greatest single cost of raising children, one which the CPAG called \u00e2\u20ac\u015ba major strain on working low and middle-income families\u00e2\u20ac\u0165. The charity estimated that full-time childcare costs around \u00c2\u014180,000 over the course of childhood. While parents claiming Universal Credit can have up to 85 per cent of these childcare costs reimbursed, the CPAG noted that \u00e2\u20ac\u015breporting requirements are complex and because Universal Credit is paid in arrears, it is hard for parents to pay childcare fees in advance.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Government\u00c2\u00a0to blame<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Both the CPAG and Unite agreed that it was government policies that have contributed to a situation where parents, even those working full-time, cannot provide for their children.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The government has claimed that its National Living Wage, introduced in 2016, represents the biggest rise in the minimum wage in two decades, but critics say it still falls far short of the minimum needed to live a decent life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Moreover, any gains made from a higher wage are clawed back by cuts and freezes to benefits and tax credits as well as the rollout of Universal Credit. Higher prices which continue to jump amid Brexit uncertainty have also played a role.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The report found that out-of-work families and working families on low-incomes with more than two children are hardest hit, especially after the introduction of the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s two-child policy last year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The policy, which stops children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s benefits after a family has more than two children, caused about 70,000 households \u00e2\u20ac\u201c most of them in work \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to lose up to \u00c2\u01412800 each last year alone. The CPAG said the policy would lead to skyrocketing rates of child poverty by putting an additional 200,000 children under hardship.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

GPAG CEO Alison Garnham urged the government to use the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bforthcoming budget to unfreeze benefits and restore work allowances\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 in order \u00e2\u20ac\u015bto make work pay.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bInvesting in children is the best long-term investment we can make,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner agreed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis research shows that actually living on the so-called National Living Wage is virtually impossible, especially if you have the added responsibility of raising children,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sad indictment of the society and economy that we live in in which couples who are both working full-time \u00e2\u20ac\u201c spending precious time away from their children in order to give them a basic standard of living \u00e2\u20ac\u201c still cannot earn enough to do so.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs the Child Action Poverty Group has highlighted, this mess is entirely of the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own making. This giving with one hand by hiking the minimum wage and taking with the other with its cruel cuts and delays to benefits are hitting innocent children hardest. If the government really wants to make work pay it must raise the minimum wage to a real Living Wage of at least \u00c2\u014110 an hour, reverse cuts to benefits and tax credits and immediately halt the botched Universal Credit roll-out.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey contrasted revelations last week <\/a>of \u00e2\u20ac\u015bexcessive fat cat salaries with the CAPG report \u00e2\u20ac\u015bon low wage misery.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLow pay hurts not just those families who live on it but our entire economy,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he tweeted<\/a>. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need a \u00c2\u014110 minimum wage now.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so-called National \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Living Wage\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (NLW) is anything but, as new research shows families with two parents working full-time on the statutory minimum will not earn enough to support their children.   A report from the Child Action Poverty Group (CAPG) published on Monday (August 20) found that a household of two parents working […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10928,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[480,355,462],"wps_subtitle":"Full-time minimum wage workers struggling to support children","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15977"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15977"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25953,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15977\/revisions\/25953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}