The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has called for the laws protecting workers’ rights to be improved to tackle poverty. According to the charity, the number of people moving constantly between unemployment and work had risen by 60% since 2006. Also, the issues of job security and low pay must be addressed if people are going to move out of poverty in a sustainable way. The latter point aims to combat the problem whereby workers gain work in a law paid job on a temporary basis which then ceases and they become unemployed. For many workers this is a common scenario.

Although the Department for Work and Pensions claims to have committed £5bn to help people return to work the charity says that government policy and legislation is failing to tackle the problem and must make significant changes, including improvements to the rights and conditions of employees.