HALF A MILLION children of public-sector workers will be living in poverty by April, sensational new figures reveal today.

The TUC research shows that the figure has shot up by a whopping 40 per cent since 2010 — and that Tory cuts to benefits and public-sector pay are to blame.

Families with both parents working in the public sector have lost out the most. Their average household income will be down around £83 a week in real terms by April 2018.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The government’s pay restrictions and in-work benefit cuts are causing needless hardship.

“Ministers must give public-sector workers the pay rise they have earned. If they don't, more families will fall into poverty.”

Households with one parent employed in the public sector will lose £53 a week on average.

In south-west England, there has been a 55 per cent increase in child poverty rates among families that include a public-sector worker.

Other big increases were found in north-west England (up 51 per cent) and the East Midlands (up 50 per cent).

A separate TUC analysis shows that holding down public servants’ pay by imposing a cap on wage rises at a percentage below the rate of inflation has compromised Britain’s economy, with spending power reduced by £8.5 billion last year in England alone.

Public-sector pay rises have been capped at 1 per cent since the Tories came to power in 2010 — meaning that, when inflation is taken into account, wages have fallen sharply in real terms.

The TUC analysis is modelled on real wages falling by 13.3 per cent between 2010 and 2018 for workers in health and education, and by 14.3 per cent for workers in public administration.