A million children from key worker households are living in poverty, a new study has revealed.
Union chiefs warn current government policies will increase rates of hardship as Universal Credit has been cut and key worker pay rises have been capped.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady urged Boris Johnson - who has "promised to ‘build back fairer’ - to start with key workers.
She added: "They put themselves in harm’s way to keep the country going through the pandemic. Now, we must be there for them too."
Paddy Lillis, Usdaw union General Secretary also condemned the Prime Minister for not delivering on the Tory manifesto promise of an Employment Bill, fearing pre-Covid inequalities and injustices will worsen.
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He said: “We need a New Deal for Workers: a minimum wage of at least £10 per hour, an end to insecure employment, respect for shop workers and action to ensure that retail jobs are no longer underpaid and undervalued.
“There also has to be fundamental reform of Universal Credit to tackle in-work poverty and as a first step the Government must reverse its planned cut of £20 per week from October.”
Families in the North East are struggling the most with more than 56,100 children living in poverty.
London households closely followed with more than 164,500 children growing in conditions of deprivation.
The figures published by the TUC are based on household income after housing costs.
But poverty is much more than not having enough money, and its root cause is different in every situation.
Poverty can mean not being able to afford school uniform for children, heat a family home and power it with electricity.
It can also mean families are forced to skip a few meals in order to feed their children. Or not having time off work in order to pay rent and keep a roof over a families head.
This is reality for Lyanne mum-of three from Bridgend, Wales who told The Mirror life is always “stressful”.
She lives constantly worrying when she will have to ask her teenage son to babysit her youngest child who is seven, as she cannot afford childcare.
She told The Mirror: “My wages fluctuate from month to month as I only get paid when I work. And I can only work if there’s a shift available and I’ve been at this superstore for a long time.
“My teenage son takes responsibility to care and look after our youngest because we can’t afford a childminder.
“It’s as if my youngest is his son. It’s a massive weight on him but he doesn’t complain. If he wants to go out with his friends I can’t stop him because he helps.
“So I will have to miss a shift and look after my seven year old so he can go out and relieve some stress.
“The summer holidays are coming up, he's gonna want to go out in the sun. This means I won’t be able to work these long evening shifts and I’ll miss out on work and money.
“My partner is working full time and we cannot live on his wage alone.
“It’s crazy as utilities are just so expensive for us now. The cost of living is so high. And I’m talking about the basic necessities. We are working to just about survive not to live life.
“I want my son to be able to learn how to read and write. He’s seven and definitely behind. I’m worried because we can’t afford tests to determine if he has ASD dyslexia, and waiting for free ones will take another few months.
“We’re not only suffering financially, but he can’t even get access to the right sort of education he needs.
“It’s stressful, from week to week, not knowing when I’ll have to ask my oldest to babysit his younger brother so he misses out on his social life. And this is because I have to work because it’s the only way we can pay our bills.”
The Chancellor is planning to cut Universal Credit for low-income families by £20 per week in October.
Jonathan Reynolds, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Penions told The Mirror: “Under this Government millions of children are growing up in poverty, the vast majority in working families.
"A basic principle of our economy has to be that people are paid a fair wage they can raise their family on.
"It is shameful that the very workers who got us through this crisis are in the firing line when it comes to poor pay and cuts to Universal Credit. The Government must immediately stop their cut to Universal Credit which will take £1,000 a year from millions of working families.
"It is shameful that the very workers who got us through this crisis are in the firing line when it comes to poor pay and cuts to Universal Credit.
“ Labour would replace Universal Credit, and introduce an living wage of £10 an hour for all.”
Mark Russell, Chief Executive from The Children’s Society said: “It’s truly shocking that so many children living in poverty are in families where parents are employed in key worker roles, which are often low paid jobs with insecure hours.
“Our own research has shown that many families in these key worker and zero hours contract roles are often migrant families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) meaning they haven’t been able to access many mainstream benefits during the pandemic when they have experienced job losses or reduced income.
“It’s essential that these families can access the support they need as we recover from Covid to ensure that no children are left behind. This is why it is critical that the NRPF condition is not applied to families with children under 18.
“For families that can access support through the social security system, we also urge the government to scrap the two-child limit and remove the household benefit cap – policies which are currently applied regardless of household need. If these were to be removed it would be a big step forward in helping struggling key worker families as we recover from the pandemic.”
Imran Hussain, director of policy and campaigns at Action for Children, said: "Cuts to essential top-ups for low wages have left working parents struggling to meet their children’s basic needs. Three quarters of children in poverty are in working families.
“Key workers care for the most vulnerable in our society and keep food on our supermarket shelves, they deserve better. These families desperately need the Government’s help to recover from the pandemic and stabilise their budgets in the longer term.
“The planned £20 a week cut to Universal Credit in October is likely to throw more children into poverty. The Government should think again and choose to back the low paid.”
