WORKING families are at greater risk of poverty than 20 years ago, new research published by the Resolution Foundation today has found.

In its new Working Poverty Out report, the think tank noted that the previous Labour government reduced relative child poverty by the equivalent of 600,000 children between 1998-99 and 2008-09, with rising parental employment playing a key role.

But, it warns, with most families in poverty now having at least one person in work, though with scope to work more (55 per cent, up from 43 per cent in 2000), supporting working families to increase their earnings should be a focus of child poverty strategy.

It notes that while the risk of living in poverty for working families has fallen for lone parents in part-time work (from 43 to 34 per cent since 1998) it has increased substantially for couples where only one adult works (from 30 to 40 per cent).

The report calculates that increasing work by at least five hours a week or raising hourly pay by 10 per cent would both increase families’ chances of escaping poverty by seven percentage points.

It stressed the need to address barriers like access to childcare and transport links, complemented with action on housing, the costs of which put half of families in private rented accommodation below the poverty line.

Resolution Foundation’s interim chief executive Mike Brewer said: “Getting more parents into work played a major role in reducing child poverty during the last Labour government.

“But Britain today is very different — most families in poverty have at least one person in work, with those that are still workless facing significant barriers to employment.

“As well as the obvious moves like boosting childcare support — particularly for primary-school-aged children — and making it easier to commute between workplaces, schools and nurseries, strengthening workers’ rights should help reduce the risks involved in changing jobs.

“With many of the ‘easy gains’ on poverty reduction achieved, the government will need deep pockets, and action on multiple fronts across employment, housing and benefits, to lift significantly more children out of poverty.”

The government said: “No child should be in poverty — that’s why our ministerial taskforce is exploring all levers available across government to give all children the best start in life.”

It has been criticised for maintaining the Conservatives’ two-child cap on child benefit. Lifting the cap would lift an estimated 300,000 children out of poverty at a stroke.