New figures indicate that 1,669,000 employees are missing out on their minimum legal entitlement to paid holidays. That’s an average of 6.4% of workers not taking up their legal rights. But this problem isn’t uniform across the UK, nor across all sectors, as you can see below. Missed holidays vary hugely by sector. Over 35%…
Tomorrow, Friday 22nd of May, Ireland will have a referendum on whether two people of the same gender can marry. It’s the first country in the world to do so, and a long journey from 1995, when it was forced by Europe to decriminalise “male homosexual acts”. Why a referendum? Rather than simply pass legislation in the…
The election campaign is coming to an end, and it’s time to mark your ballot. We’ve put together ten big issues which can be changed by the next government, depending on who we vote for. But first the practicalities… If you’ve registered to vote (yes, if you’re reading this, it’s too late now), then you…
Foodbanks were used to feed people 1,084,604 times in the 2014-2015 financial year. This is the highest ever figure since records began. It’s an increase of 19% on the previous year. More than a million. It’s a shocking figure, made all the more so when you realise that 400,000 of those visits were for children. Even worse, this…
The TUC’s economic and social affairs team has been working flat out to pick apart, scrutinise and analyse the final budget of this Parliament. Here are some of the most popular posts: 1. Welfare cutsThe Chancellor referred to £12 billion of welfare cuts. Nicola Smith crunches the numbers to see where those cuts could fall, while Richard…
We know that women and men don’t get equal wages for equal work. We also know that women are more likely to be trapped in zero-hour contracts. As Fair Pay Fortnight rolls on, we’re reminded once again of just what a raw deal working women get in Britain. Over one in five workers in the UK…
One in five jobs pay less than the living wage. But you won’t find them evenly distributed across the UK. In some constituencies, over half of full-time workers get less than living wages. We’ve mapped almost every constituency in England, Wales, and Scotland below: Source: House of Commons Library analysis of ONS figures. More info. Remember – living…