One in five LGBT workers have skipped meals or gone without food

TUC poll shows1,000 LGBT people find that the cost-of-living crisis has hit LGBT workers hard.

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 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. 

Paul Nowak said, TUC general secretary said: 

“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.”

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