<P> During the late 1960s and 1970s, progress was made in reducing the level of post-war poverty and inequality, with 3 million families in Britain in poverty in 1977, compared with 5 million in 1961 . According to the 1971 Supplementary Benefits scale, the percentage of individuals living in poverty fell from 9.4% in 1963 to 2.3% in 1973 . Low pay continued to remain a major problem by the end of the 1970s, however, particularly amongst manual workers . </P> <P> Based on various measurements, however, the number of Britons living in poverty rose significantly from 1979 to 1985 . The number of Britons living in poverty (when defined as living below the Supplementary Benefit level) rose from 2,090,000 to 2,420,000 during that period, while the number of people living in poverty when defined as living on or below the Supplementary Benefit level rose from 6,070,000 to 9,380,000 . Using a poverty measurement of living at 140% of the Supplementary Benefit level or below, the rise was from 11,570,000 to 15,420,000 . </P> <P> From 1979 to 1987, the number of Britons living in poverty (defined as living on less than half the national average income) doubled, from roughly 10% to 20% of the whole population . In 1989, almost 6 million full - time workers, representing 37% of the total full - time workforce, earned less than the "decency threshold" defined by the Council of Europe as 68% of average full - time earnings . In 1994, 76.7% of all part - time workers earned less than this threshold . </P> <P> Figures from the European Commission estimated that from 1975 to 1985 the number of people living in poverty had doubled in Britain, from just over 3 million to 6.5 million . In 1975, the United Kingdom had fewer people living in poverty than Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Luxembourg . By 1989, Britain had a higher poverty than each of these four countries . In 1989, 12% of the UK population was estimated to be living in poverty, compared with 11.7% in Italy, 8.5% in Germany, 7.9% in Luxembourg, 7.4% in the Netherlands, and 7.2% in Belgium . </P>

One reason for the increase in the numbers of working poor is due to the