GROWING numbers of workers are being pulled into the red as the rising cost of essentials outpaces wage increases, Citizens Advice has warned.

The charity said the proportion of people in full-time employment it sees with “negative budgets” – having more money going out on essential costs than coming in  – has risen from around 27 per cent in early 2019 to nearly 39 per cent by this year.

It added the self-employed have been particularly hard hit, with 58 per cent of those it has helped with debt having had a negative budget, compared with 39 per cent in 2019.

Citizens Advice director of policy Matthew Upton said: “Most people expect that if you work hard, you should have enough money to get by.

“Yet our front-line advisers are seeing more and more people in work who can’t make ends meet.

“This is even after they’ve had specialist advice and done what they can to cut costs and maximise their income.

“We’re seeing a growing number of people in full-time work, who previously had just enough to get by, being pulled into the red.”

The report also found nearly half of people in part-time work that the charity is seeing are in a negative budget, up from 36 per cent in 2019.

People the charity sees who work part-time are more likely to need benefits to top up their income, Citizens Advice added.

TUC head of economics Nicola Smith said: “Everyone who works for a living deserves to earn a decent living.

“But the Conservatives have presided over the longest pay squeeze in modern history.

“This has blown a hole in family budgets and left many struggling to make ends meet.

“We can't go on like this. Britain cannot afford the Conservatives for one day longer.”