Cost of living in London: 1 in 3 London Teaching Assistants turning to food banks
1 in 3 school support staff in London are looking to food banks to support them through the next few months.[1] 8 in 10 school support staff in London say they are ‘financially worse off’ than a year ago.
“There’s nothing left to squeeze - we’ve had enough of being taken for granted”
GMB Union Teaching Assistants in London demand pay rise as cost-of-living bites.
GMB, the union of school support staff nationally, has called on the Local Government Association[2] to guarantee an inflationary pay-rise, a Covid bonus and pay for every week of the year. There are 76,648[3] Teaching Assistants, administrators and school support workers in London. They make up 41%[3] of staff in state-funded schools in the area.
Mary Goodson, a London Teaching Assistant and GMB activist said:
“When people think of schools, they think of Teachers but our pay means 1/3 of us are relying on or considering Foodbanks to feed our own children.
“A friend of mine is a single mum and a TA and she said if she was allowed a free school meal at lunch, she could skip her evening meal and give more to her kids. That’s not right.
“We were asked to put ourselves at risk during the pandemic, but we struggle to get by month to month. Like many key workers – we’ve been long left out of the story and we’ve had enough.”
Lisa Bangs, GMB London Region Schools Organiser said:
“The Government needs to step up and guarantee all our school support staff can make ends meet.
“That means; a proper RPI linked inflationary pay-rise, a review of term-time only contracts – which are pushing our members well below the bread-line and a Covid Service Bonus to recognise the courage shown and personal sacrifices taken to give all our children the best chance of success.
“It’s simply shameful that these Key Workers, 89%[3] of whom are women in London, that are paid from the public purse are relying on charity to feed their families.”
Broadcast interviews with Mary and Lisa are available: 07967 440 297 – 079 7001 9643 - london.press@gmb.org.uk
Notes to editors:
GMB London Region covers members in workplaces in; London – North of the Thames, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and the East of England.
[1]A GMB London Region survey from May 2022 of 682 school support staff members in London found (222) 33% of School Support Staff (Teaching Assistants, Administrators and other support roles), in London have used food banks or are considering using one to deal with the cost-of-living crisis.
81% of London respondents said they were worse off financially than this time last year.
[2] The Local Government Association decide the annual pay award for all Local Government workers in England. https://www.local.gov.uk/2022-national-pay-negotiations GMB Union submitted their annual pay claim for all Local Government and School staff to the Local Government Association on the 6th June 2022.
[3] 9th June 2022 DFE DATA https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2021
