| The statistics show 16,000 people in the city — which has around 60,000 residents in work — exist on wages significantly below the national average.
The Dundee Anti-Poverty Forum and Dundee Chamber of Commerce say it is a cause for concern.
DAPF project leader Jim Milne said more needed to be done to address the “polarisation” of Dundee’s industries between low-paid, blue-collar work and the better-paid research and development industries.
“Throughout the UK the biggest rise in poverty is among the working poor, and Dundee is no different,” he said.
“A massive gulf is opening between the pay being offered in entry level and blue-collar jobs, versus posts in the city’s biotechnology and other university-based industries.
“All I can say is, thank God we’ve got the research and development jobs, but we must spare a thought for the other industrial jobs that have been the mainstay of the city for decades.
“The number of decent paid manual jobs is now set to decrease with the closure of NCR and the lay-offs at Wood Group and as a result these people will disappear from Dundee’s working population.
“Unless we can see a marked increase in wages at the lower end of the job scale the polarisation will continue.”
DAPF met with the Scottish Affairs Committee on Tuesday and suggested one way to close the gap would be to raise the minimum wage to somewhere in the region of £7.80 per hour.
It also took issue with what it sees as discrimination against younger people, who are not eligible for the minimum wage yet make up a sizable proportion of Dundee’s working population.
Gary Langlands, chairman of the steering committee at the Dundee Chamber of Commerce, said, “The key is improving jobs right the way through from research and development to the shop floor level.
“We also must ensure that the resultant profits are passed on to the workers, which is the responsibility of employers themselves.
“It is important to ensure that they are good employers, and that every sector of the business is rewarded for the profits they generate.”
A spokesman for Dundee City Council said there were a number of initiatives to help out the “working poor”, including help with debt and money advice.
The Executive figures show that between 20-21% of the population of Angus, Perth and Kinross and Fife are low paid. |
