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The National Living Wage is introduced today. It should be a ladder out of poverty for the lowest paid.

Almost two million low-paid workers will get a pay rise today, as the Government’s National Living Wage comes into law. This is a big moment for a Government committed to making work pay. Giving the low-paid a pay rise is, however, not enough on its own. 

The next big challenge for the Government is to help those on the bottom rung of the pay ladder to develop new skills, take on more hours and progress in the workplace as a long-term route out of poverty.

Invest in skills and help those at the bottom progress in work:

Surveys of employers have found that almost 75 per cent of UK school leavers applying for entry-level jobs lack basic functional skills in literacy and numeracy. This holds back young people and keeps them rooted at the bottom of the employment ladder.

The so called ‘jobs miracle’ has enabled 1.7 million more people into work. The ‘jobs miracle 2.0’ should focus on the development of new skills and taking on more hours as a long-term route out of poverty. As the old political slogan goes, 'a lot done, a lot still to do' as the Government looks towards the next stages of welfare reform.

To read our 2015 report 'Tackling Low Pay' click here

CSJ in the news:

Click here to listen to CSJ Director, Philippa Stroud on Radio 4's 'Week in Westminster' discussing Universal Credit

CSJ Life Chances Strategy Recommendations submitted to Government: Universal Support is next step in Universal Credit revolution.

The CSJ has submitted a series of major policy recommendations to Government Ministers ahead of the publication of a Life Chances Strategy later this year.

In our submission paper we are calling on the Government to introduce a single new Universal Support programme alongside Universal Credit reforms.

Building life chance metrics into Government welfare programmes:

The Government has three primary programmes which could be aligned with their Life Chances Strategy:

  • Universal Support package;
  • The Work Programme; 
  • The Troubled Families Programme.

All of these programmes currently follow different outcome criteria. The CSJ is calling on Government to refocus each of these programmes around its life chance agenda, addressing the root causes of poverty not just poverty itself.

By introducing Universal Support whilst seeking to help more families earn a full-time National Living Wage, the Government could take the next big leap in delivering real life change for those who are most disadvantaged.

To read our Life Chances Strategy Submission to Government click here

New Modern Day Slavery Act reporting hub launched today

Efforts to tackle modern day slavery took a big step forward this week with the launch of a new online reporting system for large companies.

This new online tool, launched today, will help companies to outline the steps they are taking to eradicate modern day slavery within their supply chains.

Andrew Wallis OBE of award-winning charity Unseen and Jaya Chakrabarti MBE of social enterprise Semantrica Ltd have launched a new portal to support companies with turnovers above £36m to comply with the requirements of the Modern Day Slavery Act, passed by Parliament last year.

It's time for companies to sign up to stamp out Modern Day Slavery: 

The Act was one of the last Government’s most historic achievements but the blunt instrument of legislation can only go so far. This new reporting portal will help big companies eliminate modern day slavery and prosecute those peddling slavery. With images on our screens every day of mass people movement, this is the moment for Britain’s biggest companies to back this initiative and sign up to demonstrate that their supply chains are slavery-free.

As the CSJ prepares to look again at what next for combatting  Modern Day Slavery, efforts to tackle this evil are to be warmly welcomed.

To visit the website click here

An open letter to Zac Goldsmith and Sadiq Khan: back a London-wide Social Lettings Agency

CSJ Director, Philippa Stroud has written to the two leading candidates to be London’s next Mayor, publicly calling on them to back a London-wide Social Lettings Agency for London’s poorest families.

Across London private renting is becoming the new norm for low-income Londoners. There are 270,000 housing benefit claimants living in privately rented accommodation, the vast majority on short-term lets of under 12 months. Short tenancies hit the poorest hardest, forcing them into sudden and frequent moves, making it harder for them to hold down a job and disrupting the education of their children.

CSJ proposals for a Mayor’s Social Lettings Agency would open up London’s private rental sector to low-income Londoners by giving landlords a guarantee of long-term rent, whilst providing stability to tenants living in these properties.

Those at the bottom of the housing market – the ones regarded as least reliable by the private sector – are being left behind and the next Mayor should take bold steps to ensure London leads the way in housing poorer families.

To read Philippa Stroud's open letter to Zac Goldsmith MP and Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP click here