Debbie Abrahams MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, responding to today’s Office for National Statistic’s figures on working households, said:

“The Office for National Statistics’ figures today highlight the deceit at the heart of this Tory Government’s life chances rhetoric. By trying to shift the focus away from income to workless households, the Tories are claiming success on an issue that the ONS report shows has been declining since Labour took office in 1997.

“There are currently nearly seven million working families living in poverty, including 2.5 million children. If the Government is serious about social reform, they should stop patting themselves on the back and start tackling the problems of low pay, insecurity and a lack of progression at the bottom end of the labour market.”

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