THE cost-of-living crisis has hit working people hard. Workers who were on the front line, keeping our country going during the coronavirus pandemic, have seen their living standards squeezed and their families suffer as wages have failed to keep up with soaring bills and sky-rocketing costs.

Usdaw’s latest cost-of-living survey of 7,500 low-paid key workers found that 83 per cent feel financially worse off than last year, almost two in three have struggled to pay gas and electricity bills and nearly three in four reported that financial worries are having an impact on their mental health.

At the heart of this cost-of-living crisis is a lack of decent employment rights: low-paid workers are particularly vulnerable to having their hours, wages or terms and conditions cut.