Creating more and better jobs for people living in Greater Manchester must be the number one priority for the region’s incoming mayor says the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in a report out today.

In its briefing for the candidates standing in May’s elections, JRF says the new post gives Greater Manchester an opportunity to lead the country in delivering inclusive growth – growth that benefits everyone living in the city region.

With half a million people income deprived and one in four children living in poverty, the briefing provides recommendations for the Mayor to create an economy that helps solve poverty.

Greater Manchester performs relatively well compared to other major UK cities on job creation and private sector business growth. But the organisation finds low pay and low skills continue to lock people out of the city region’s economic success:

Nearly a quarter (23%) of workers in Greater Manchester are paid below the voluntary Living Wage, similar to the England average.

250,000 employee jobs in Greater Manchester paid less than the voluntary Living Wage.

The Foundation says that 160,000 working families in Greater Manchester receive tax credits to top up low wages and that 180,000 working age people have no qualifications in Greater Manchester.
The briefing also highlights how GM’s economic growth is not reaching all households. Greater Manchester has a higher proportion of households with no-one in work (18.4%), a higher unemployment rate (6.5%), and higher proportion of working age adults who are economically inactive (24.5%) than England as a whole (14.9%, 5.1% and 21.9% respectively).

To deliver inclusive growth, JRF recommends the mayor raises productivity in low-paid sectors.

Greater Manchester has identified health and social care, retail and hospitality and tourism as among its priority sectors.

Low pay is prevalent in these sectors, so the Mayor should work with businesses and industry bodies to develop strategies to increase productivity, as higher productivity is a path to higher wages.
They also say that the Mayor should support growth sectors to reduce poverty by working with businesses to address issues such as skills shortages or high staff turnover and connect people in poverty to job opportunities in growing sectors of the economy and use procurement powers to support job creation.

Katie Schmuecker, head of policy at JRF, said:

“Manchester and the wider city region has enjoyed a remarkable transformation over recent decades and has become an emblem for the Northern Powerhouse. But too many people have not benefitted from its economic success. Hundreds of thousands of people are experiencing income deprivation and poverty in Greater Manchester, both when they’re working and when they’re not.

“The election of a Mayor provides a golden opportunity to deliver inclusive growth: growth that benefits everyone living in the city region, enabling a stronger and more sustainable economy, reducing the demands on public spending and benefiting society. Creating more and better jobs and connecting people in poverty to opportunities are at the heart of an inclusive growth agenda – and this should be the number one priority for the Mayor when they take office in May.”

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