Working but poor: millions in work and in poverty

sometimes you don't want to come home cuz you can't put your heting up I work 5 days a week and I still have to use a community shop millions of people in the UK are in paid employment but still struggling to make ends meet doesn't make sense that we have to go through all this we are penny pinion we counting the pennies every day politicians repeatedly tell voters the best way out of hardship is to get a job but for a growing number of people it's just not enough people like Melanie when it's a choice between you getting some new shoes and your daughter getting some new shoes you buy yourself some super glue to gluey shoes together and I do and it shouldn't have to be like that it really shouldn't no don't have to look like you've got nothing to have nothing I don't do a weekly shop I can shop daily for bargains and I can go from One supermarket to another and we we are penny pinching we counting the pennies every day once you've bought all the essentials for the month how much are you left with nothing nothing we're not living a life I think we just plotting on for the last 14 years Melanie has been working in a local school as a learning support assistant I've always had at least one or two jobs what works for every call center seasonal work local football team cleaning you've done it all yeah being there got the T-shirt you do it for your children all three of my children they've seen Mom doing the best we have a lot of Staff illnesses due to being overworked and you've bushed you go so much you've got nothing left when you come home and you think to yourself is it worth me getting up and going to work in the morning knowing I could I could do half the hours that I wanted to and get me rent paid council tax paid but it's Pride ended day where Melanie lives in Yorkshire almost one in four people live in poverty in the Northeast the situation is even worse and living in poverty almost always means struggling to put food on the table as food bank use reaches record highs Community shops like this one in South tside are popping up all over the country to fill the gap between Rising costs and stagnant wages so I'll be getting some eggs some bananas and potatoes my little boy loves eggs so it's worth it if you get that and you're allowed to come here once a week it costs £4 I only work part time however I'm above the threshold for getting any kind of help from sort of the government um I can't be with with food bank so even though I'm struggling um I'm a single parent I can't get any help from anywhere so this is is a good way to do it when you sort of leave school you never think right this is going to be me using using help from people using Community shops using food banks you think you're going to be able to provide and some some weeks I can't there's no way I would ever buy this from a supermarket um only because it's just it's too expensive I work my wife also works but recently our kids just came into the country four of them so they eat a lot what we make as income is probably not enough it's it's minimum wage so um it it doesn't cover the bills the rent and every thing we need to pay for so that's basically why I have to doesn't make sense that we have to do go through all this let we're working full-time record numbers of people in the UK are finding work but many of those jobs are insecure and while inflation rates are slowly improving realterm wages and benefits aren't keeping up so yeah it's half time this week which it's nice to have time off in it is to switch off but then you still worrying you know we're at home all day now budgeting your gas your electric you know what are you going to eat this week uh cheese and butter pleas I used to cook every day and now I care for to do a meal every day so when you do you cook double so the next day it's there just to warm up and do you know what I I don't want this for my children when they go out and be their own little adults and get their own lives out there I don't want that and I don't want them to see me struggling what would you like to see happen I'd like to see how our we is be um to make her have a better quality of life I don't I'm not wanting a flash car I'm not wanting fancy trainers I just want to be able to get up on a morning and think I can put my heating on today and that's all that we need go to work work your backside off and be able to come home and enjoy what you've earned I've got out to enjoy the number of working adults living in poverty has risen 56% in 25 years back in the day my dad worked my mom stayed at home and you had everything and now two people can work work and you still can't even afford to put a meal on the table on a night time we need to be heard we need to be seen and we need to be believed we're not just a number we're people you either gu or you want and I think those that have got it they don't realize what it is to go without a government spokesperson said we are providing 104 billion in cost of living support worth on average 3,00 ,700 per household including investing over2 billion in the household support fund to help those most in need as well as boosting pensions and benefits since 2010 there are 1.7 million fewer people living in poverty and we know work is the best route out of poverty so we're going even further raising the national living wage cutting National Insurance curbing inflation and investing billions through our back toor plan to break down barriers to work so even more people can secure long long-term Financial Security

Channel: Channel 4 News

Views: 476,249

Keywords: Channel 4 News, News, channel 4 news, c4 news, cost of living, poverty, britain, england, energy prices, heating, food insecurity, food banks, uk politics, rishi sunak, uk government, food foundation, uk foodbanks, working poor, in work poverty, benefits, universal credit, inflation, economy, uk economy, working, uk jobs, job, employment, wages, wage growth, real living wage, national living wage, minimum wage, teaching assistant, student, hourly worker, education, uk

Id: mW83ALKFcZ4

Length: 6min 38sec (398 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 18 2024