The Poverty Strategy Commission, led by Baroness Stroud, has urged employers to ensure wages prevent poverty and support staff health, wellbeing and financial resilience.
The call comes in its final report, launched at the House of Lords, which sets out a framework it says could eradicate deep poverty in the UK and deliver the lowest poverty rate on record.
A new “social contract” that requires action from individuals, employers and government will be central. It would include people working and saving for the future, employers offering stable jobs with progression, and a welfare system that protects families from hardship.
One of the most pressing concerns identified in the report is the lack of savings among working-age families. Many have no financial buffer, leaving a £74 billion shortfall and forcing some into expensive credit. The commission recommends employers expand workplace savings schemes, particularly emergency savings, alongside improved access to affordable credit and financial support for low-income households.
The report also calls for better workplace health provision. This includes stronger support for physical and mental wellbeing, effective sickness absence management, and income protection measures. Together, these would form part of a proposed “Health at Work Guarantee” by 2030, making work safer, fairer and more secure.
Nest Insight executive director Will Sandbrook welcomed the focus on savings, noting that scaling payroll-linked savings schemes is vital but that employer demand is currently low. Just 7 percent of employers offer such schemes, according to the Department for Work and Pensions. He argued that allowing voluntary auto-enrolment would help boost participation without undermining pension saving.
While the commission acknowledges short-term costs for employers and government, it stresses the long-term gains: higher productivity, reduced pressure on public services and a more resilient workforce.
The report said: “Overall, with all actors in society upholding their part of the social contract, the implementation of our approach would mean that deep poverty is completely eradicated, and the overall level of poverty very significantly reduced.”
