Surge in public sector employees seeking charity help

National poverty charity, Turn2us, has revealed a staggering 325% increase in public sector workers seeking its financial help since 2011; and is urging the government to review public sector pay levels ahead of Wednesday’s budget.

The charity, which provides practical support and information to people facing financial crisis, gave 408 grants to public sector education, health and government employees in 2018/19 - compared to just 96 in 2010/11.

The number of grants Turn2us gave to public sector workers between 2010 and 2019 increased by:

• 293% for health and social care employees (from 49 people to 193)
• 323% for education employees (from 42 people to 178)
• 640% for government and local government employees (from 5 people to 37)

In total, these three public sector job categories accounted for 13.67% of Turn2us grants given in 2018/19, up from 4.29% in 2010/11.

Thomas Lawson, Chief Executive at Turn2us, said:

“Public sector employees - our teachers, nurses and firemen - should not have to rely on charity to make ends meet.

“In-work poverty is climbing in our country and too many underpaid employees are being left with nothing at the end of each month.

“Once inflation is accounted for, many public sector workers are earning less per month than they were at the start of the decade. The government must increase pay levels ahead of the budget if we want to reverse the trend of rising in-work poverty.”