WIREDGOV

• They report having to cut back on food spending and skip meals, as well as missing payments or household bills 

• Union body calls for a “government that will make work pay” 

One in five (20%) lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people told the TUC that they missed meals or went without food last year, according to a new poll published by the union body today (Thursday). 

The poll – published as the TUC’s annual LGBT+ conference begins today in London, and carried out between May and November last year – also found that: 

• More than half (56%) of LGBT workers said they had cut back on food spending.  

• Half (50%) told the TUC they had reduced the amount of hot water, heating or electricity they or their household used.   

• And around one in seven (14%) had missed a payment or a household bill (e.g. energy, broadband, phone, water). 

Cost of living crisis 

The poll highlighted how the cost of living crisis has affected LGBT workers over the last five years. 

One in five (20%) told the TUC they had worked two or more jobs simultaneously for financial reasons during that period. 

And over the same time frame, one in four (26%) LGBT workers said they had struggled to earn enough to afford their basic living costs. 

Pay and conditions 

LGBT workers also reported problems with pay and conditions over the past five years. 

More than one in 10 (12%) LGBT workers told the TUC that they did not get sick pay when they were off work sick – and one in 20 (5%) said they had been denied holiday pay when they were entitled to it. 

One in 20 (5%) said they had been paid less than the national minimum wage. 

Around one in 14 (7%) of respondents told the TUC that their job had been transferred from one employer to another (for example, from the NHS to a private company, or from one private company to another). 

And one in 20 (5%) had been employed through an agency in the same workplace for more than three months. 

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:  

“This poll shines a light on the impact of the cost of living crisis on our LGBT workers. 

“No one should have to skip meals because they can’t afford to eat – or work more than one job to make ends meet. 

“14 years of Tory mismanagement of the economy have hit millions of working people hard. 

“Years of wage stagnation and dismal growth have left workers all around the country struggling to pay their bills. 

“Our country is crying out for change. 

“We desperately need a government that will make work pay and deliver better jobs, growth and living standards. 

"The New Deal for Working People would be a gamechanger for all workers – and would give our economy the long overdue refresh it so urgently needs.” 

If delivered in full Labour’s New Deal will:  

✓ Ban zero hours contracts 
✓ End fire and rehire 
✓ Strengthen sick pay 
✓ Give workers employment rights from day one of the job 
✓ Give workers a right to flexible working 
✓ End lower minimum wage rates for young people 
✓ Introduce ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting 
✓ Grant unions new rights to organise and win better pay for workers