Scotland’s working poverty scandal: when a job makes you poorer

THERE IS A PHRASE I hear more and more often on the frontline: “I cannot afford to take a job.”

For many people, particularly those who have never had to live close to the edge, that statement can feel difficult to understand. Work is meant to provide security, independence and opportunity. It is meant to be the foundation of a stable life.

So how can it be that, for some, working actually makes life harder? To understand that, we need to step beyond assumptions and look at the reality as it is lived every day.

Across the country, the cost of living has risen sharply and continues to rise. Housing, energy, food, transport and childcare have all increased at a pace that wages have simply not kept up with, particularly for those on low and middle incomes.

At the same time, many employers are under pressure. Rising costs, increased taxation and economic uncertainty have forced businesses to cut hours, or limit pay growth just to survive.

People are working, but they are not getting ahead

The result is a growing problem that is no longer hidden. People are working, but they are not getting ahead. In many cases, they are falling behind.

When you are employed, the responsibility for everything sits with you. Every cost becomes yours to carry – rent or mortgage, council tax, energy bills, food, travel to and from work, childcare, phones and internet, insurance, school uniform costs, clothing and daily essentials. These are not luxuries. These are the basic needs of modern life and for many households, once these are paid, there is little or nothing left.

Let us look at a real-life situation: an example of a woman I supported. A single mother in Glasgow with three school-aged children, Gina is working and bringing home around £1600 per month.

Her rent is £500. Council tax is £120. Energy costs are £270. Basic communication including phones, internet and television, comes to around £150. She relies on a car to get to work and manage the school run because public transport does not meet her needs. That costs around £200 per month for fuel, insurance and tax. Before she has bought any food, she has £360 left. From that £360 she must feed a family of four for the month and cover any additional costs, including limited childcare so she can stay in work.

There is nothing left. No savings. No flexibility. No room for anything unexpected. That is in-work poverty.

Now let’s not focus on the income for a minute and look at the risks she faces. If that household falls behind on rent or council tax, the consequences are serious. Losing a home is a real possibility. In a city like Glasgow, where housing is under pressure, losing a tenancy can mean being pushed into private renting, where costs are often double or more. So the margin for error is not small. It does not exist.

If something in the home breaks how can she replace it? If one of the kids, or even worse, herself were to fall ill and need to be hospitalised, where is the extra money for attending visits, PJs, toiletries, snacks etc coming from?

So we looked at the alternative for Gina. If Gina quits her job and moves onto benefits, the structure changes. Rent is covered. Council tax is covered. Childcare is no longer needed. Travel costs reduce. Her income becomes around £2400 per month. After housing costs are accounted for, she has around £1900 to manage everything else. It is not a wealthy life, but it is a more stable one. And more importantly, it is predictable.

Her sons would be able to attend the football club they have been desperate to join but mum couldn’t afford. Her daughter could join the dance group her friends attend and feel part of something. The quality time the family would have together would be greater and more enjoyable. The “benefits” word doesn’t only apply to income, because the quality of family life and relationships also improves. It’s quite unbelievable when you think about it.

This is about a system that is actively disincentivising work

So let’s be honest here, what decision has the system encouraged her to make? Stay in work and struggle, or step out of it and stabilise her life? This is not about laziness. This is not about a lack of ambition. This is about a system that is actively disincentivising work.

From the outside, this can be misunderstood. It can look like a lack of ambition or a reluctance to work. But when you look at the numbers, it becomes something very different: it becomes a rational decision – a decision based on stability, security and survival. For many, it is not about avoiding work. It is about choosing the option that keeps a family afloat.

This reality has consequences far beyond individual households. For businesses, it reduces participation in the workforce. For communities, it lowers ambition. For families, it creates a cycle where survival comes before progress. And for children, it shapes what they believe is possible. When children grow up seeing that work does not improve their situation, it changes how they view their own future.

We have not arrived here overnight. This is the result of years of political decisions that have allowed the cost of living to rise unchecked while wages have stood still. Housing costs have increased. Energy bills have surged. Childcare has become unaffordable for many. At the same time, taxation has increased and support is withdrawn the moment people try to improve their situation.

The outcome is predictable. Work no longer guarantees progress. In some cases, it guarantees pressure, risk and, ultimately, failure. Yet too many decisions are being made by people who have never had to sit down and calculate whether they can afford all these consequences at once. Because if they had, they would understand exactly why this system is breaking people.

Support systems are essential. That is not being disputed here. They provide protection and dignity when people need it most. But when the gap between working and not working closes, or in some cases reverses, the system loses balance. Work must offer a clear benefit over not working – not just in theory, but in reality.

This is not about blaming individuals. People want to work. They want to provide. They want better lives for their families. But they need to see that effort leads to reward. That means wages that reflect the cost of living. It means reducing the risks associated with moving into work. It means making childcare accessible and affordable. And it means creating a system where people can move forward, not feel stuck.

When someone says, “I cannot afford to take a job”, it is not a rejection of work. It reflects a system that is not working for them. Fixing that is not just an economic issue. It is a social responsibility. A society where work does not provide a better life is a society that must take a hard look at itself and ask why.

We need change urgently.