A THIRD more people working full-time are struggling to get by on wages which have fallen below 2008’s recession rates, according to a study released yesterday.

And when added to Tory welfare cuts, Britain’s flatlining pay rates and lack of opportunities have pushed a staggering 28 per cent of the population (11.6 million) to the point where their incomes are below minimum standards.

This compares to poverty rates which hit 21 per cent in 2008-9, at the start of the bankers’ recession. The number is expected to grow further in future with cuts to the Universal Credit benefit system.

Six in 10 households that are in this type of financial difficulty have at least one person in work, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) researchers found.

Poverty is mostly being caused by welfare “reforms” implemented by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith alongside wage pressure from skinflint bosses, they added.

Benefit cuts have outweighed any improvements to pay and job numbers by adding to the millions of households which miss the minimum income standard, according to the report.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Owen Smith said Tory cuts to Universal Credit will leave more than two million working families worse off by £1,600 on average.

He added: “It’s getting harder for working families to make ends meet as, under this Tory government, we are seeing the lowest rate of pay growth for a century.

“Instead of doing anything to help, Mr Duncan Smith is about to make things much worse. This report is yet more evidence that the Tories should listen to Labour’s demands to reverse the cuts to Universal Credit.”

It is unfair that people move from the “hardship of unemployment” to be paid “working poverty” wages by employers benefiting from their labour, said TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady.

She added: “Without decent pay rises and better job security, the gains of growth will remain unfairly shared.”

This sentiment is not shared by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which claims bosses are “burdened” by the cost of paying workers living wages.

It claimed that government policies such as George Osborne’s new minimum wage and apprenticeship levies will cost the economy around £9 billion a year by 2020.

CBI director general Carolyn Fairbairn said: “Britain needs to be able to grow its way out of the deficit, but the danger of this rising policy burden is that it holds back businesses, particularly smaller firms.

“This cost burden has now crept up far enough, if the government is serious about supporting British companies to drive growth in the economy.”

More well-paid jobs are needed so that “families can benefit from economic growth,” said JRF policy and research manager Katie Schmuecker.

She added: “Despite working full-time hours, more families are still falling short of what they need to make ends meet. We need the state and businesses to ensure people in work can achieve economic security.”