A RECORD high of over seven million people in working households are officially in poverty in Britain — and the housing crisis is largely to blame, a study found yesterday.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation charity called for urgent access to genuinely affordable accommodation, as it was revealed that the number of private renters living in poverty has doubled to 4.5 million in the last 10 years.

The report also highlighted the need for higher wages, reversing cuts to the work allowance and plugging the gap caused by cuts to universal credit, which will cost a working family of four almost £1,000 per year.

Some 2.6m children were also found to be living in working households affected by poverty.

Homeless charity Shelter head Campbell Robb said: “Sky-high rents are pushing more and more people to the brink as they struggle to find somewhere to call home.

“Clearly something has gone very wrong when so many families, despite working hard, are struggling to keep their heads above water.”

In the study, poverty was measured as being left with below 60 per cent of the midway-point of an income after housing costs have been deducted.

“A fair day’s work should mean a fair day’s pay. After the financial crisis, UK wages fell further than in any other developed country except Greece,” said TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady.

“It’s time for employers to give their staff fair pay and decent hours, while the government should lift the public- sector pay cap and invest in our economy.”

Shadow work and pensions secretary Debbie Abrahams said the report “has shown the true impact of six wasted years of Tory austerity.”

She added: “This government has no plan to tackle stagnant wages and rising insecurity, choosing instead to make the poorest pay for their economic mismanagement.”

The government argued that since 2010, the number of people in Britain living in poverty overall has fallen by 300,000.

“We’re increasing the national living wage and taking millions of people out of income tax,” a government spokesperson said.