New polling, published today (Monday) by the TUC, finds that low earners are more likely than middle and higher earners to have been forced to cut spending and take on debt during the pandemic.
The poll findings (conducted for the TUC by BritainThinks) come as the TUC publishes its budget submission, which calls on the Chancellor to improve pandemic support for low- paid workers, and to invest in job protection and creation to prevent an unemployment crisis following the pandemic.
Over a third of workers said that their household had suffered a reduction in disposable income since the pandemic began.
This rises to half for workers with annual earnings below £15k, while it is just three in ten for workers earning more than £50k.
The lowest earners are also the most likely to have had to reduce spending and take on debt.
The TUC’s budget submission, published today, calls for a workers’ budget.
The union body encourages the Chancellor to follow the recommendations of the OECD to make greater use of fiscal policy to support the economy.
By increasing support for working people and low-income households, the Chancellor would also be using fiscal policy to protect the economy and stimulate recovery.
TUC budget recommendations include extending the job retention scheme to the end of 2021 and a wage floor within JRS to prevent furlough pay falling below the minimum wage.
There should be a permanent retention of the £20 per week increase in universal credit, and an end to the five-week wait for new universal credit claimants to receive payment as well as increasing child benefit and child tax credit and removing the two-child limit.
The TUC aalso calls for the fixing of statutory sick pay by raising it to £330 per week (to match the level of the real Living Wage) and by extending eligibility to the two million low-paid workers currently excluded from SSP and raising the national minimum wage to at least £10 per hour.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:
“When a crisis hits, the most exposed should get the most protection. But many low-paid workers are struggling through the pandemic on less money and with higher costs. And they are falling into deeper poverty and debt.
“Good government means stepping in to help. The Chancellor should help by extending furlough to the end of the year, with a guarantee that support will never be less than minimum wage. And last year’s boost to universal credit should be kept – permanently.
“Many of these low earners are key workers who have kept our country going. We owe it to them to build a fairer economy after the pandemic. The Chancellor should give Britain a workers’ budget next month. It should be a plan for full employment, with decent pay and job security for every worker.”
