Maggie Atkinson told last week's ADCS conference that although children's services often employ a large number of council workers, they pay staff, especially women, disproportionately low wages.
She said local authorities could not expect to eradicate child poverty if children's services workers are denied decent wages. She urged fellow council leaders to campaign for a living wage on behalf of workers. "We are going to have to hammer this until it gets through to everyone," she said.
Howard Cooper, chair of the ADCS workforce development policy committee, agreed. He said local authorities too often hire workers on cheap temporary contracts. "We don't have enough ladders in the career structure to allow our lowest-paid workers, many in schools or in social care establishments, to climb out of poverty," he said.
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