Oxfam's work in the UK

Introduction
Income security
Protection for asylum-seekers
Gender and race equality
Public attitudes to poverty
Giving people living in poverty a voice

Income security

We believe that everyone has the right to a secure income that can support a decent standard of living. In the UK, our work concentrates on two main areas: ending exploitation of low-paid workers and helping people on benefits move into paid work.

Some people get a bad deal at work. Migrants, homeworkers and other low-paid or part-time workers are often exploited by employers. We work directly with these groups to ensure they know and can claim their rights, and campaign to ensure government and employers enforce these rights.

We also work to improve the benefits system. The benefits system assumes that people can move from unemployment to full-time work in a single step. That rarely happens. Unemployed people are much more likely to be offered short-term contracts or part-time work. They find this work hard to accept because it offers little long-term financial security. We believe a more flexible benefits system would allow people to take up more work opportunities and earn a more secure income.