Call to end low-pay trap for millions

The UK government has been urged to tackle the "declining" job opportunities for about ten million workers already struggling on earnings of less than £15,000 a year.

The Work Foundation said focusing on the number of people finding a job was not enough for the coalition to meet its targets for benefit savings and poverty reduction.

Ministers were told there was an urgent need for quality, lasting jobs which would help to regenerate areas with large numbers of low-paid workers.

The report said the UK suffered from a "long tail" of low-skill, low-wage employment, with people "trapped" in a revolving door between low-paid, poor-quality work and unemployment.

The so-called "bottom ten million" were most vulnerable to pay cuts and job insecurity, said the Work Foundation. .

Naomi Clayton, the report's author, said: "There is an urgent need for quality, lasting jobs that provide opportunities for development and progression. The regional and local divisions in jobs cannot be addressed without tackling the bottom ten million.

"Without more, better-paid jobs, long-term sustainable regeneration in these places will not be possible."