Zarah ChoudharySingle-earner couples face a 33% higher risk of falling into poverty today compared to 2000, according to the Resolution Foundation.
The report, Working Poverty Out, highlighted that the last Labour Government reduced relative child poverty significantly – down by the equivalent of 600,000 children between 1998-99 and 2008-09 – with rising parental employment playing a key role.
Single-parent employment rates increased from 52% in the mid-2000s to 66% by 2022.
However, the report noted that Britain’s employment and poverty landscape has changed drastically, necessitating a different approach.
The share of families in poverty where no one works fell from 50% in 2000 to 30% in 2022.
Among workless families, three-quarters were found to have a primary school-aged child, half had a child under the age of five, close to half had an adult with a disability or long-standing limiting health condition, and three in 10 had a child with a disability.
With most families in poverty in Britain today having at least one person in work, but with scope to work more (55%, up from 43% in 2000), the report emphasised that supporting working families to earn more will need to be a focus of any child poverty strategy fit for the 2020s.
While the risk of living in poverty for working families fell for lone parents in part-time work (from 43% to 34% since 1998), and only increased marginally from a low base for so-called ‘one-and-a-half’ earner couples (from 11% to 14%), it increased substantially for couples where only one adult works (from 30% to 40%).
The report found that enabling second earners to work would have the biggest impact: a fifth of working-poor families who see a second earner move into work are able to escape poverty.
Increasing work by five hours or more a week or raising hourly pay by 10% or more would both increase families’ chances of escaping poverty by seven percentage points.
However, the report warned that practical constraints like childcare – especially for school-aged children outside of school hours and term-time – and local transport links will need to be addressed.
The report noted that the Government’s existing labour market reforms to boost worker power and prevent exploitative zero-hours contracts should help reduce the risks of switching jobs, so parents can attain more hours or a higher wage.
Finally, the authors noted that any focus on employment will need to be complemented by action on housing and benefits, with recent Resolution Foundation research finding that high housing costs are pushing half of families in private rented accommodation below the poverty line.
Mike Brewer, interim chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said: “Getting more parents into work played a major role in reducing child poverty during the last Labour government.
“But Britain today is very different – most families in poverty have at least one person in work, with those that are still workless facing significant barriers to employment.
“The Government’s new child poverty strategy will need to confront these challenges, which require action across a broad front.
“As well as the obvious moves, like boosting childcare support – particularly for primary-school-aged children – and making it easier to commute between workplaces, schools and nurseries, strengthening workers’ rights should help reduce the risks involved in changing jobs.
“With many of the ‘easy gains’ on poverty reduction achieved, the Government will need deep pockets, and action on multiple fronts across employment, housing and benefits, to lift significantly more children out of poverty.”
