Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
The Tories are breaking Britain
Their cuts are destroying the fabric of our society but the Tories have no solutions to increasing poverty and insecurity, writes KEN LIVINGSTONE

OVER the last five years more than 500,000 workers in Britain have fallen into working poverty, it was revealed this week in the UK Poverty 2018 report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

It also showed that the number of people with a job but living below the breadline has risen faster than employment, further destroying the Tory myth that their policies make work pay.

Four million workers are now poverty in Tory Britain, meaning around one in eight in the economy are working poor, and eight million people live in poverty in families where at least one person is in work.

The JRF defines the poverty line as being when households earn less than 60 per cent of the median income, adjusted for the household’s type and size. In 2016-2017, the average median income for UK households after housing costs was £425 a week (£22,100 a year.)

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Members of trade unions shout slogans during a nationwide strike to protest an interim trade deal with the United States, saying the agreement undermines the interests of farmers, small businesses and workers in New Delhi, India, February 12, 2026
Workers' Rights / 25 February 2026
25 February 2026

The biggest strike in global history is a template for our future. The silence tells you all you need to know, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE

Residents walk through Santa Cruz, Jamaica on Wednesday after Hurricane Melissa passed
Features / 1 November 2025
1 November 2025

Hurricanes might have natural causes but the tragedy that follows is entirely human-made and a consequence of capitalist greed, asserts ROGER McKENZIE

LEADING THE WAY: China’s President Xi Jinping, centre left in front, and his wife Peng Liyuan, centre right in front, pose for a group photo with national leaders and delegations before an opening ceremony of the Global Women’s Summit 2025 at the China National Convention Centre in Beijing, October 13
Features / 15 October 2025
15 October 2025

As the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women begins in Beijing, it’s clear that China has fulfilled its commitments set 30 years ago and delivered amazing progress in women's education and equality, writes YU BOKUN

WAY FORWARD: People's Assembly Against Austerity protest in central London on June 7 2025
Politics / 11 July 2025
11 July 2025

RICHARD BURGON MP points to the recent relative success of widespread opposition to the Labour leadership’s regressive policies as the blueprint for exacting the changes required to build a fairer society