Workers are increasingly turning to payday loans firms because their wages run out before the end of the month, creating a "debt disease" which is spreading rapidly across the country, a new report has warned.
Shadow chancellor Ed Balls has urged the Government to use the £500 million underspend from the Olympics to cover the cost of scrapping a 3p increase in fuel duty due to take effect in August.
An increase in the minimum wage is required to protect low-income workers from a "perfect storm" of benefit cuts, rising living standards and a lack of jobs, Oxfam warns.
14 June 2012
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