THE GUARDIAN: Findings that 2.2m children live in households on economic cliff-edge challenge coalition claim people are better off in work
Almost 7 million working-age adults are living in extreme financial stress, one small push from penury, despite being in employment and largely independent of state support, according to the most comprehensive study of the finances of employed households, commissioned by the Guardian.
Unlike the "squeezed middle", these 3.6m British households have little or no savings, nor equity in their homes, and struggle at the end of each month to feed themselves and their children adequately. They say they are unable to cope on their current incomes and have no assets to fall back on, leaving them vulnerable to something as simple as an unexpectedly large fuel bill.
The findings challenge the argument made by the work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, who last week said parents should get a job to ensure their children are not brought up in poverty. » | Amelia Hill | Monday, June 18, 2012
