76% of sex worker respondents to a recent survey* by Decrim Now, an alliance calling for the government to decriminalise sex work, said their main reason for turning to sex work was financial need.
77% of sex worker respondents said they identified as disabled or have a long-term health condition, 53% said they were working multiple jobs to make ends meet, and 27% had caring responsibilities for children or family members.
In a joint open letter to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Pat McFadden, Decrim Now, Level Up, Amnesty UK, Agenda Alliance and other feminist campaigning groups call for the following changes in the Autumn Budget:
- Increase Universal Credit to a level that meets people’s essential needs
- Scrap the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition
- Scrap the two child limit on benefits
- Lift the benefit cap
- Stop cuts to disability and health benefits.
In a social media statement, Decrim Now said:
“We think the government can and must do more to prevent people from having to go into sex work if they would rather not. The government’s Autumn Budget is coming up, and we want the government to take real action to reduce poverty and financial need across the country. No more cuts, no more austerity, no more poverty.”
New analysis from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation finds the UK is on track for a decade of decline in families’ disposable incomes by the end of this parliament (September 2029), after years of stagnant earnings growth. Families in the bottom third of incomes are set to see their disposable income fall by £1,110 per year in the decade from 2019 to 2029, which will push low income people to cut back on food, heating and other essentials. Lone parents (89% of whom are women) are set to experience the largest fall in living standards.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is calling for policy changes similar to those set out by Decrim Now and other feminist groups, with the addition of:
- Permanently unfreezing Local Housing Allowance.
- Increasing targeted support for low-income households on energy bills (beyond the current expansion in the warm homes discount).
Chris Belfield, Chief Economist and Principal Policy Adviser at JRF, said:
“Families need to see their living standards improve. They will likely vote for a government that makes this happen and punish one that fails to deliver. The last Labour government knew this and in their first term they pulled 300,000 children out of poverty alongside rising living standards overall, winning a further two terms.”
*172 sex workers responded to Decrim Now’s survey.
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