Most people classed as being in poverty have 'a job'

Researchers said the number of people in low-paid jobs had risen, with average incomes falling by 8% since their peak in 2008

More working households were living in poverty in the UK last year than non-working ones - for the first time, a charity has reported.

Just over half of the 13 million people in poverty - surviving on less than 60% of the national median (middle) income - were from working families, it said.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation said low pay and part-time work had prompted an unprecedented fall in living standards.

But it said the number of pensioners in poverty was at a 30-year low.

Ministers insisted that work remained the best route out of poverty and said the government's welfare reforms would further encourage people to get a job. 'Little security'

The JRF's annual Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion report was written by the New Policy Institute and tracks a range of indicators, including government data and surveys covering income, education and social security.

"It's not right that millions of people are going out to work, working harder and harder, and can't afford to bring up their families”

Rachel Reeves Shadow work and pensions secretary

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From BBC News, 8/12/2013
By Michael Buchanan, BBC News Social Affairs Correspondent.