Families in Birmingham do not earn living wage and live in poverty

Three recent studies shed light on the high poverty levels in West Midlands and the city of Birmingham. The Living Wage Foundation has reported on the low incomes in the area that lead to financial hardships, and another study by End Child Poverty shows the extreme levels of hardship of the youth in the region. When combined, the research from the organisations also highlight the reliance on government benefits and the services that not-profits such as food banks provide in an effort to fill the gap in income.

According to statistics from the Living Wage Foundation, almost 25 percent of households with workers, or 495,000 people in total, have an income under £7.65 an hour, and this prevents them from providing the basic needs for their families. In some parts of the county, such as Tamworth and Staffordshire Moorlands, the percentage of workers under the wage is over 30 percent. The Trussell Trust has reported on increase usage of their food banks, and this lack of income is one major cause of this.

These individuals are therefore living in poverty, and struggling to feed them families or pay the rent on time. While this percentage may seem high, it is only slightly worse than the rest of the nation. Another study from KPMG shows that across the UK, the statistics of people with an income under the living wage is 22 per cent, which is only slightly better than West Midlands.

An income that low is not enough for people to live on in West Midlands. It is leading to high poverty rates of families or lone parents with children, as shown by research from End Child Poverty. This organisation has also completed studies on the city of Birmingham as well as the entire UK, and the results are not good.

In Birmingham, about 37 per cent of children are living in poverty before housing or rent costs are taken into consideration. This means that over one out of every three children may go hungry or even homeless in the worst case. This percentage is also over twice as high as the national average of about 16 per cent.

The study will consider a child in poverty if the household they are from has an income of less than 60 per cent of the national medium, and it does consider all income support and benefits too. It will also factor in housing costs and other local conditions.

Both Living Wage Foundation as well as End Child Poverty are advocating on behalf of families in poverty. They are partnering with community groups in the West Midlands and other counties, housing associations, and local councils to put more visibility on the lack of wages in the country. The aim is also to ensure that any changes to the welfare programmes do not impact the most vulnerable in the nation.