It is both morally and economically wrong for the Government to give implicit approval to an employment system that lands the state with a huge bill to top up the incomes of the lowest earners. The holes in millions of pay cheques are being plugged by in-work support to the tune of £4 bn a year. But why aren't those who are profiting from their workers paying up? Why is the Government having to subsidise businesses who don't pay their employees enough to live on? It is a question we need to answer and act on – fast. The cost of living is rising but wages are not. In the rush for profit, and for high pay at the top, too many companies have forgotten the basic moral imperative that employees be paid enough to live on.