A THIRD of working people in Halesowen and Rowley Regis are skint, according to Labour's parliamentary candidate for the constituency.

Stephanie Peacock is hoping Labour's pledge to raise the national minimum wage to £8 an hour by 2020 will win her votes in May's General Election.

She said: "One in three workers in Halesowen and Rowley Regis do not earn a living wage and find themselves struggling on low pay, often relying on benefits or tax credits to top up their wage so they can simply afford the essentials despite working long, hard hours.

“It is a scandal that one in three workers in the constituency do not earn a living wage of £7.65 an hour."

She added: "This can’t be right. If you work hard you should be able to bring up your family with dignity without relying on the taxpayer to make up the difference.

“The Government can tell us things are getting better but when I talk to local people they don’t feel like it is, it seems the recovery is only benefitting a privileged few."

The wage rise is based on a proposed target to increase the minimum wage from 54 per cent to 58 per cent of median earnings by 2020 following consultation with the business sector.

Miss Peacock said: “A future Labour government have pledged to work with businesses and the Low Pay Commission to raise the NMW to £8 by 2020, a move that will put an extra £3,000 a year in the pockets of Britain’s lowest paid workers.

“This is an important first step that will begin to end the scandal of poverty pay as everyone in Britain should be able to live on the wage they earn."

This month the minimum wage rose from £6.31 to £6.50.

However, business lobby group the CBI warned against Labour's plans to raise the rate to £8 in 2020.

CBI deputy director general Katja Hall said: "The minimum wage is set at the highest rate it can be without putting job creation at risk at the moment.

"Raising wages in this way would put serious strain on businesses, particularly hard-pressed smaller firms with tight margins, which would end up employing fewer people.

"Politicians should address how people move on in their careers, through training and better skills, helping them move to higher paying roles over time."