Margaret Greenwood MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, responding to the latest figures on low-income households published by the government today, said:

“These figures are shocking: even before the current crisis, there was a sharp rise in the number of people in poverty as a result of an increase amongst working-age adults.

“The government repeatedly says that work is the best route out of poverty and boasts of a jobs miracle. These figures lay bare the truth. After the four-year freeze of working-age benefits, poverty has increased and food bank use has soared.

“If the government does not urgently get to grips with the flood of new Universal Credit claims and provide financial support for all workers, when figures are published in the future they will show a picture of even more people pushed into poverty and left at risk of destitution by this crisis.”