More than half a million people of working age in the South West are living in poverty despite regional unemployment rates falling before the pandemic, according to a new study.
Analysis of Office for National Statistics (ONS) data by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has found that over 10 years the household income of around a fifth of adults aged 16-64 remained less than 60% of the national median household income, after housing costs.
During the same period the unemployment rate in the South West fell from 6.4% in 2011 to 3.2% in 2020.
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The union federation has estimated that some 597,000 working age adults across the entire region live in poverty. This equates to 56,000 people in Bristol, almost 68,000 in Gloucestershire and 58,000 in Cornwall.
The TUC is calling on the government to raise pay for key and minimum wage workers which it says will help drive businesses in the region towards economic recovery.
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TUC regional secretary for the South West Nigel Costley said: “Hard work should pay off for everyone, no matter who you are or the job you do.
“But millions of our workers are denied a fair share of the wealth they create. The Prime Minister keeps talking about levelling up – let’s see it for the low paid.
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“Get the minimum wage up to £10 an hour without delay. And give key workers the pay rise they earned.
“This isn’t just about doing the right thing for workers. High streets and businesses across the South West, including Bristol won’t recover if people have nothing to spend.
“Pay growth is fuel in the tank. It will drive our recovery much faster, supporting business growth and job creation.”
The poverty figures were drawn from a recently published ONS report on the number and percentage of people living in low income households for financial years 1994/95 to 2018/19.
A government spokesperson said: “These statistics – which reflect the situation prior to Covid – show that families across the country went into the pandemic on a firm financial footing.
"Average household incomes saw their strongest annual growth for nearly 20 years in 2019/20, while 700,000 fewer people were in absolute poverty before housing costs than in 2010.
“We have since increased our support with an unprecedented package of measures targeting those with the lowest incomes to help families through a difficult year – including by injecting billions of pounds into the welfare safety net, ending the benefits freeze, helping with housing costs and increasing the national living wage.
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"Crucially, furlough has also saved millions of jobs and protected livelihoods, whilst Bristol has received £2.2m from the Covid Winter Grant Scheme.”
The study comes after a report compiled for professional services firm PwC found that more than 1,500 chain stores permanently closed across the South West last year, with the situation “likely to get worse” in a year’s time.
The TUC brings together 49 member unions that represent more than 5.5 million workers.