WORK does not save you from poverty, the TUC has warned as a new report exposes the “shockingly high” number of children living in poverty in working families.

The UK Poverty 2025 Report, published by the charity Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and released today, reveals that half of children in families where at least one adult works are condemned to poverty.

It also shows that there has been no diminution in poverty in Britain for at least 20 years.

More than 20 per cent of the population was living in poverty in 2022-23, the years covered by the report, or 14.3 million people.

Of these 8.1 million were working age adults, 4.3 million children and 1.9 million pensioners.

JRF chief executive Paul Kissack warned that “without determined action, this picture will get worse, with millions of low-income households going without essentials.”

He added that “a government promising change and vowing to fix the foundations cannot walk past this grim and deteriorating picture,” demanding “concrete action” from Labour.

But Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was walking in the direction of the biggest bosses yesterday, again pleading with them to help him grow the economy.

Ahead of a breakfast with business leaders, Sir Keir claimed that growth is “hard-wired” into all government decisions, adding that the tide was already turning.

“We have to get our economy working. I think we’re beginning to see how that’s turning around,” he said.

“The number one priority of this Labour government is growth: growth, growth, growth.”

Bosses at the breakfast, including executives from Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide Building Society, BAE Systems, Tesco, BT, Unilever, Vodafone and Taylor Wimpey were reported as sceptical of the premier’s plans, and preferred to whinge about rising taxes.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been rallying Labour MPs to the floundering government’s agenda, telling a meeting of the parliamentary party this week: “Kickstarting economic growth is this Labour government’s number one mission because I do not believe low growth is our destiny.

“Will that growth come easy? No. There are no easy routes out.

“My experience is that government has become used to saying ‘no.’  We must start saying ‘yes.’

“Yes, to new jobs. Yes, to higher living standards. Yes, to investment. And yes, to growth,” Ms Reeves said in a performance described as uncharacteristically “exuberant.”

Such buoyant rhetoric is, however, failing to dampen concerns that in a dash to appease employers to get them investing, commitments to workers’ rights, consumer protection and climate action will be thrown overboard

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak outlined a different course of action in response to the JRF revelations, saying: “Every worker deserves to earn a decent living. But many working households are struggling to keep their heads above water.

“Working people should be able to put food on the table for their families and keep their children warm during the winter.

“We urgently need to boost living standards. That’s why this government’s Make Work Pay agenda is so crucial for millions of families up and down the country.

“More money in working people’s pockets means more spend on our high streets — that’s good for workers and good for local economies.

“And the Employment Rights Bill will mean more good and secure jobs — boosting productivity for businesses and giving workers more control over their lives and better chances to progress.”

Mr Nowak said that “better work” is “crucial for ending child poverty, but added that “decent social security matters too.”

“The government must remove the two-child benefit cap which is keeping too many children in working households in poverty,” he said.

Labour are also under pressure on one of their new growth cornerstones, a third runway at Heathrow Airport. 

Many MPs used a Commons statement as an opportunity to oppose any expansion of the hub.