Today the Resolution Foundation launches two reports exploring the financial health of low earners. The Low Earners Audit takes an overview of how the UK’s 7.2 million households living on below median income but independently of state support are faring in the recession. Behind the Balance Sheet complements this overview by going beyond the front door and exploring how low income households juggle their money on a daily basis.
Month after month the Labour Market Statistics drive home the point that it is the UK’s 9.4 million working age low earners, not the middle class bankers, who have been worst hit by this recession. As a report we published last year showed, unemployment increases have been steepest in industries and occupations where low-skilled, low paid work is concentrated. People in typical low earner occupations are more likely than others to remain out of work for more than six months.

