EVERY penny counts for a lot of people struggling to make ends meet at the moment. As well as those looking for work and reliant on benefits, there are many more suffering from so-called ‘in work’ poverty.

The Lancashire Telegraph has backed our area’s foodbanks over the past few months where many of the requests for help have come from people who are working.

The trouble seems to be the ever-growing gap between the rich and poor which means, as the TUC has pointed out, thousands are earning less than what is deemed the ‘living wage’ – £7.65 per hour for people working outside London.

Although there will be good news for many this autumn when the national minimum wage is increased, that only equates to £260 a week for 40 hours.

And women are the biggest losers, with significantly more paid below the ‘living wage’ threshold than men. It shows that although great strides have been made in respect of the gender pay gap, women are still lagging behind.

What is needed is for more employers to be more flexible.

And for more to follow the lead of business and councils like Hyndburn and Lancashire County councils who offer their employers a ‘living wage’ – an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work.