Social mobility tsar demands action to help working poor

THE Government’s social mobility tsar, Alan Milburn, last night told an audience of Yorkshire business and civic leaders that Britain needs to rediscover how to “make work pay”, writes Bernard Ginns.
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In his first report as chairman of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, the former Cabinet minister warned that child poverty is a problem for working families rather than the workless or the work-shy.

His report found that two thirds of poor children are now from families where an adult works. He told the Yorkshire Post that the region has consistently had one of the worst records of child poverty over the last 15 years.

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Mr Milburn called for a combined national effort between the Government and employers to help lift living standards for the working poor, whom he described as the “forgotten people of Britain”.

He said: “They do the right thing, they go to work and stand on their own two feet. They are not skivers or shirkers and they need a better deal.”

Mr Milburn welcomed the debate about the living wage, but cautioned against its introduction at a time of fragile economic recovery. Law firm Gordons hosted the event in Leeds. The Yorkshire Post was media partner. Mr Milburn held various ministerial posts in Tony Blair’s Labour Government.