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TUC warns on the growth of 'poverty' jobs

Former unemployed now struggle in work

People are escaping the drudgery of unemployment only to find themselves in working poverty, TUC leader Frances O'Grady warned yesterday.

The Office for National Statistics is expected to reveal today that the overall number of people in work has crept up.

It will prompt Con-Dem government leaders to parrot their claim to be creating an economy for "hardworking people."

But the TUC has skewered their rhetoric by showing that the link between the number and quality of jobs has been broken.

Job quality has almost hit a 20-year low according to its quarterly research which measures workers' hours and wages against inflation. Ms O'Grady said that meant a "joyless recovery" for the majority of people.

Employment rates and job quality have fallen and risen together through recession and recoveries since the study began in July 1992.

While Britain's employment rate has returned to its 2009 level, job quality has plummeted towards a floor last reached in 1995.

Ms O'Grady added: "Job creation - whatever the quality - is better than rising unemployment," she said.

"But for too many people this simply means moving from the hardship of unemployment into working poverty.

"Working people deserve a fair share of the benefits of recovery.

"Otherwise, there is a risk that the poorly paid, insecure contracts that were seen as a pragmatic response to recession will become a permanent feature of the labour market."

Complacent Con-Dem leaders were also reminded that they have broken the link between economic growth and youth employment.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) pointed out that youth unemployment rose by 0.5 per cent to 21 per cent in July, leaving 958,000 under-25s jobless.

IPPR analyst Spencer Thompson argued that young people in Britain were worse off than those in other European countries hit by the economic crash.

He said: "Tinkering with crisis-response policies like the Work Programme and the Youth Contract is not enough.

"We need guarantees of quality vocational education and real work experience that prevent young people becoming inactive."

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