The UK Government is letting down working people in Newport East.

Research from the Living Wage Foundation shows that in Newport East 30.1% of people in work earn less than they need to live on each day. This is above the Welsh average of 24.7%.

Recent increases in the Government’s so-called National Living Wage have not tackled the persistent problem of low pay across Britain, particularly here in Wales where wages have not grown as fast as in other regions of the UK. Real wages are still lower now than they were in 2010, and millions of working families are set to be worse off under Universal Credit which replaces the benefits and tax credit system.

More families are working harder to get by, but the rising costs of living and low paying work means that a job is no longer the reliable route out of poverty that it once was.

I fully support the Living Wage Foundation campaign to make work pay. You can find out more on their website here: https://www.livingwage.org.uk