CHILDREN in the North-East are twice as likely to live in workless households compared to the South, new research shows.

A study by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) also found that two-thirds of the jobs created in the North-East since 2011 have been insecure forms of work such as zero-hour contracts.

A report from the union organisation said power should be devolved to workers and local communities to help bridge a "great regional divide" on jobs.

Anna Turley, Redcar MP, said the findings showing the country was "deeply unequal" were "unfortunately no surprise".

The research by the TUC was based on studies in Tees Valley, Liverpool, Norfolk and Suffolk.

It found that Britain was "riven" with inequalities, with men's pay in older industrial areas £200 a month below the national average.

They have therefore called for regional groups to be set up involving business, unions and government, to discuss how to drive up pay and productivity.

Ms Turley said recent employment figures are a "smoke screen for what is happening in the real world".

"These findings are unfortunately no surprise to me this country is deeply unequal and we have had seven years of Tory austerity and cuts that have disproportionally hit jobs and services in the North East.

"The Government congratulates themselves at the employment figures every month but they are a smoke screen for what is happening in the real world - jobs and opportunities are not fairly distributed around the country and those jobs that are created are not real.

"They are zero hours, bogus self-employment, low paid and insecure.

"People in the North East deserve an economy which works for them not those already advantaged down south.

"The government must tackle this scandal so children don't grow up disadvantaged by living in this region."

The report also highlighted inequalities within areas, adding they are the result of failing economic policy and too much power resting with central government, rather than workers and local communities.

Frances O'Grady, TUC general secretary, said: "Too many people in Britain have been left behind - whole communities have been abandoned for a generation without the investment they need to build a strong local economy.

"It has left millions of people stuck in dead-end jobs that don't pay a decent wage.

"In the places we looked at, there was no shortage of opportunities to create stronger industries and great jobs, but to unlock this potential, we need to change how the economy works.

"That means devolving power and funding back to working people and their local communities."