TUC analysis published today (Monday) of official poverty and employment figures has found that working age poverty in the West Midlands has barely fallen since 2010/11, despite regional unemployment falling significantly.
The proportion of working age people living in poverty was 24% in 2010/11, and 22% in 2017/18, according to today’s new figures from the Office for National Statistics.
The poor progress comes despite unemployment in the West Midlands falling from 9.5% in 2011 to 4.8% in 2018.
TUC Regional Secretary for the West Midlands Lee Barron said:
“Thousands of people in the West Midlands are working hard, but still locked in poverty – that’s not right.
“The system is broken, with low pay, insecure work and the benefits freeze trapping families below the breadline.
“We need to redesign the economy to make it fair again. People inthe West Midlands need more control over their working lives and a fairer share of the wealth they create.
“That means banning shady practices like zero-hours contracts and raising the minimum wage to £10 an hour. And it means giving all working people the freedom to have a union in their workplace to negotiate fair pay and conditions.”