A duty of care: in-work poverty in London’s public sector

The issue

There are approximately 1.4m people in London living in households where someone is employed in the public sector. Almost 10% - around 140,000 people - are in poverty. Low pay is the key issue, but many of the participants said that their difficulties were made worse by short and uncertain working hours.

The solution

The report argues that London's workers want and need more support from their employers.As well as better pay, this includes fair working hours, more opportunities for progression and improved benefits (such as subsidies for unavoidable costs). To this end, the Social Market Foundation is establishing a new poverty benchmark for London-based employers who want to do more to tackle working poverty.