Women on low wages struggling to cope with debt, survey says

A third of women earning below the voluntary living wage have no savings and most worry about their finances, a new survey reveals.

Research among 1,000 female workers found two out of five have more than £500 of debt, with one in four spending more than £100 a month servicing it.

The Living Wage Foundation and the Fawcett Society said their findings revealed three out of five working women only have enough savings to last a month if they lost their job.

The voluntary wage is £8.75 an hour outside London and £10.20 in the capital, compared with the Government’s national living wage of £7.50 for over 25-year-olds.

Tess Lanning, director of the Living Wage Foundation, which sets the voluntary living wage, said: “The precariousness of life for women earning little more than the government minimum shows the need for more employers to take a stand by paying the real living wage based on what people need to make ends meet.

“Our research shows that debt and financial insecurity is widespread for low-paid women, with many struggling to save for a rainy day.”

Jemima Olchawski, of the Fawcett Society, said: “Women are much more likely to be in low paid work.

“Often, that might be because they need flexibility or parttime work to meet caring responsibilities that they just can’t find in better paid roles. It’s also because society undervalues women and the work they do; jobs dominated by women such as caring roles are consistently amongst the lowest paid.

“Employers can help lift their staff out of poverty and close the gender pay gap by paying the real living wage.”

TUC general secretary Frances O’grady said: “Women are bearing the brunt of in-work poverty. Millions are trapped in low-paid jobs that offer no financial security. This polling shows that extending the real living wage is vital.”