Work doesn’t pay. Labour will fix that

theguardian.com:

There’s a fundamental problem with our economy. For too many people, work no longer pays. It is a scandal that 5 million working people are living in poverty. There is no clearer sign of a broken system.

People are worn out not just with their jobs, but financial stress. No one should have to lie awake at night worrying whether they’ll be able to feed their children. Having a warm, decent home and an occasional meal out should not be a luxury. Two-thirds of adults in poverty are in work. The proportion has been rising and has never been higher.

Both of us represent constituencies in the north of England. We have to refer working people to food banks and clothing exchanges. We have met teaching staff in Manchester and Leeds who go into school early to provide breakfast for pupils, often out of their own pockets. We can’t bear to see people being held back like this or to see potential being wasted in grinding poverty. We all deserve better.

But this isn’t just because of the cost of living crisis. It is a consequence of a low-wage crisis from more than a decade of squeezed pay under the Conservatives. Average pay, adjusted for inflation, was lower in May 2022 than in February 2008. We need lasting change to how work and workers are valued in our country.

We are proud that the last Labour government created the national minimum wage. We won the argument then, but we now need to go further to help restore dignity at work and make sure work pays. That is why the next Labour government will change the Low Pay Commission’s remit so that – alongside median wages and economic conditions – the minimum wage will for the first time reflect the need for working people’s pay to at least cover the cost of living. Finally, the national