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19 Oct, 2013

UK Employers should raise low-paid workers’ wages to tackle ‘in-work poverty’ – The Independent

Employers should increase the wages of their low-paid workers to tackle the scourge of “in-work poverty” in Britain, the Government’s watchdog on poverty recommended today.

In its first “state of the nation” report, the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission proposed cuts in perks for well-off pensioners, such as free TV licences and winter fuel allowances, with the money used to help children in poor families. It said state pension costs are rising by 17.5 per cent during the course of the five-year parliament, wiping out more than half of the welfare savings planned for 2014-15.

Calling for a shift in taxpayers’ support from the old to the young, the commission said: “We do not believe that favouring pensioners over their children and grandchildren will be a sustainable position over the long term if a meaningful dent is to be made in the UK’s high levels of child poverty and low levels of social mobility.”

Read the rest: Employers should raise low-paid workers’ wages to tackle ‘in-work poverty,’ says Alan Milburn – UK Politics – UK – The Independent.