When Work Won’t Pay: In-work poverty in the UK

Overview

For the past 30 years, the political consensus has held that work is the best route out of poverty. Yet more than four million of the 13.5 million people who live in poverty in the UK are working. There is clearly a contradiction between the consensus and the reality. This paper is a discussion of some of the issues that Oxfam’s work in this area has revealed. Oxfam will seek with others to identify what solutions could help us all achieve our ambition of decent work for everyone. Our ambition for a world without poverty is one with decent work; work that serves the needs of people, communities, and the economy. Decent work means that everyone has an adequate and stable income; everyone is protected from exploitation; and everyone has security and power over their own lives through fair labour rights.