40% of nurses living below a ‘reasonable standard’

SOME 40% of nurses now live in households where earnings are below what is considered a reasonable living standard, a study revealed.

Statistics from think-tank NatCen also show 34% of police and 30% of teachers falling into the bracket.

More public sector staff are using payday loans and are thousands of pounds worse off than in 2010, when a pay freeze came in. In 2010, 25% of nurses lived in homes where wages were below the “minimum income standard” agreed by bodies including the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.