申論題

 Increasing numbers of people in work are finding themselves in poverty, according to a report published in Britain. The report highlights the growing incidence of well-educated people on the breadline because of a failure to find a job. The report charts the changes in recent decades in levels of poverty in Britain—and seeks to explain why, despite higher levels of employment and a more qualified workforce, there has not been more success in combating poverty. The report cautions that simply increasing employment and pushing more people into university “are no panacea.” 

 The report also warns that higher employment has been a “less effective antidote to poverty” because there has been a steady fall in the average hours worked per worker, down 11% over the last 40 years. The result is widespread deprivation, with the number of people experiencing in-work poverty rising by a fifth in a decade to 6.1 million. By contrast the number of people in jobless households has remained steady at 5 million.