It's time to make in-work poverty a thing of the past - Dr Laura Robertson

It’s the time of year when we start booking Christmas nights out and making plans to meet up with family and friends over the festive period. So this Living Wage Week, it’s good to start thinking about the people who will be cooking and preparing our food, looking after us at tables, serving us drinks, and cleaning up afterwards.

Living Wage Week is a chance for us to pay tribute to the employers who pay the real Living Wage - ensuring that their staff earn a wage which is at least enough to live on. In Scotland, the Poverty Alliance’s Living Wage Scotland team works in partnership with the Living Wage Foundation to give those employers accreditation and recognition.

Some £485 million in extra wages has gone to low-paid workers in Scotland since the Living Wage campaign began and there is clear evidence of positive impacts on employers and employees. As well as providing a Living Wage, businesses can also become Living Hours employers ensuring workers’ rights to security of hours as well as decent notice period for shifts and a contract that reflects hours worked.

These employers are pointing the way to a better economy, because in-work poverty is a growing issue in Scotland with low-paid work and insecurity of contracts leaving households struggling to afford basic essentials. For those on the lowest incomes, the value of their earnings has stagnated since the late 1990s. A recent report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation highlights that over one in ten workers in Scotland are locked in persistent low pay, with women much more likely to be trapped in low pay. To cope with this financial instability, low-paid workers often resort to taking on extra hours or even multiple part-time jobs. Many rely on their families for financial help. It is clear that something needs to change.

The Poverty Alliance is working as a partner in the Serving the Future research project, funded by The Robertson Trust - shedding light on the issue of in-work poverty in Scotland's hospitality sector. By working closely with both workers and employers we aim to provide insights that can lead to positive change to prevent and reduce in-work poverty in Scotland.

One of the critical issues facing families in low-paid work is a lack of affordable childcare outside traditional working hours. Families with children under three told us they often rely on family, or spend a significant proportion of their income on childcare. Long waiting times for nursery places also leave families with limited options. Juggling childcare is a daily challenge for many - parents told us that they feel tired and over-stretched and not able to spend the time they would like to with their children. One said: “My partner did a whole Excel sheet… with the nursery being so expensive... a big new expense that we didn’t have when I was just a full-time mother. You don’t realise how much… money you’re saving by not having to pay a nursery.”

Transport is another major challenge, particularly for those working late shifts. Poor public transport service makes it hard for people working non-standard hours. Late-night workers told us that often their only option is to walk home due to the lack of availability of public transport and the prohibitive costs of taxis. In recent years, several councils in Scotland have supported Unite the Union’s Get Me Home Safely campaign, which highlights the dangers many hospitality workers face getting home from work late. More work can be done to ensure all late-night workers in Scotland have safe transport home from work.

The housing situation in Scotland also doesn’t help. Affordable and adequate housing is out of reach for many low-paid workers, who are forced to pay high private rents because there is no choice. Serving the Future project found that housing costs are a major worry for families living in private, social, and owner-occupied housing. Last week, Edinburgh City Council declared a housing emergency because of the lack of affordable and adequate housing in the city.

Instability of income is another a critical issue – especially in rural Scotland. Seasonal workers experience drastic fluctuations in their income throughout the year. For them, the winter months can be especially challenging, with reduced hours and income. In this environment, financial planning becomes a constant battle.

For families struggling on low-incomes, access to an adequate, stable income should be provided through the social security system. Despite government investments in welfare and debt advice services, some workers simply don’t know about their social security entitlement, and how they can get that support.

Financial uncertainty and stress are affecting families’ well-being in Scotland. Children have a rights to an adequate standard of living under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – and in Scotland that soon could become part of Scots Law.

As we move into winter, the cost-of-living crisis continues to pull families in low-paid work deeper into poverty. Workers in the Serving the Future project shared examples of having to cut back on basic essentials including food and energy in order to get by. Often earning just above thresholds, households in low-paid work are not eligible to cost of living support payments and other forms of support.

Addressing these issues requires local and national government policy responses. In a just and compassionate society, everyone should have access to an adequate income and standard of living. There is a clear need for better support for low-paid workers and families. In Scotland, it's time to make in-work poverty a thing of the past.

Dr Laura Robertson is senior research officer at The Poverty Alliance, Scotland’s national anti-poverty network.