The Hidden Rise of Modern Slavery in Britain

13 May 2026

Paul Francis

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A Problem That Never Really Went Away

There is a tendency to think of slavery as something distant, something rooted firmly in the past or confined to parts of the world far removed from everyday British life. It sits in history books, in documentaries, in the language of abolition and progress. It is not something most people associate with modern Britain, or with the streets, workplaces and systems that shape daily life.

Silhouette of a person sitting on the floor in a dim hallway, head in hands, creating a somber mood. Light filters from a door in the background.

And yet, the latest findings from the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner suggest something far more uncomfortable. Modern slavery is not only present in the UK, it is rising, and doing so at a pace that is becoming harder to ignore. Referrals of suspected victims have reached record levels, with more than 23,000 cases identified in 2025 alone. That figure has nearly doubled in just a few years, and the expectation is that it will continue to grow rather than stabilise.

This is not a sudden emergence. It is a problem that has been building quietly, largely out of sight, but increasingly woven into the fabric of the modern economy.

Not Somewhere Else, But Here

One of the most persistent misconceptions about modern slavery is that it exists elsewhere. That it is something imported, something external, something that happens beyond the borders of everyday British experience. The reality is far closer to home.

Exploitation linked to modern slavery has been identified across a wide range of sectors within the UK, including agriculture, construction, hospitality, car washes and domestic work. It exists in both urban and rural settings, often hidden in plain sight. It does not always announce itself in obvious ways. More often, it sits beneath the surface, embedded within legitimate industries and supply chains.

Perhaps most strikingly, a growing number of victims are British nationals. This is not solely an issue of migration or international trafficking, although those factors remain significant. It is also about vulnerability within the UK itself, about people who fall into situations where exploitation becomes possible.

That shift changes the conversation. It moves the issue from something that feels external to something that is undeniably domestic.

Vulnerability in a Changing Economy

At the centre of the rise is a familiar but deeply troubling pattern. Exploitation thrives where vulnerability exists. The cost of living crisis, rising housing pressures and increasing levels of financial instability have created conditions in which more people are exposed to risk. Debt, insecure employment and lack of stable accommodation can all make individuals more susceptible to coercion, manipulation or false promises of work.

A person wearing a gray knit hat sits against a dark wall, arms crossed over knees, head resting on arms, conveying a somber mood.

Modern slavery does not begin with chains. It often begins with an offer, an opportunity that appears to provide a way out of a difficult situation. That is what makes it so effective. It adapts to circumstances, finding points of weakness and building from there. As economic pressure increases, so too does the pool of people who can be targeted.

The Role of Technology in a New Form of Exploitation

What distinguishes the current moment from previous decades is the role of technology.

The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner has highlighted how digital platforms, artificial intelligence and new forms of payment are reshaping how exploitation operates. Recruitment can now take place online, through social media or informal job networks that reach large numbers of people quickly. Communication between those orchestrating exploitation and those being exploited can happen remotely, reducing the need for direct physical control.

Financial transactions can be obscured through digital systems, making it harder to trace the flow of money. At the same time, technology allows for greater coordination, enabling exploitation to operate across locations and at a scale that would have been far more difficult in the past.

This is not a return to old forms of slavery. It is something that has evolved alongside the modern world, using its tools and infrastructure to remain hidden.

A System Struggling to Keep Pace

The UK does not lack laws or frameworks designed to address modern slavery. There are systems in place, from identification and referral mechanisms to enforcement and victim support structures. In theory, these provide a comprehensive response. In practice, the situation is more complex.

The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner has raised concerns that the UK’s response has begun to stagnate. The scale of the problem is increasing, while the systems designed to address it are struggling to keep up. This is not necessarily due to a lack of intent, but to the challenge of responding to an issue that is both evolving and expanding.

Policing, support services and regulatory bodies are all operating within wider pressures. Resources are stretched, priorities are competing, and the nature of modern slavery itself makes it difficult to detect and disrupt.

The result is a gap between what exists on paper and what is experienced in reality.

The Part We Do Not See

Perhaps the most unsettling aspect of modern slavery is how much of it remains unseen.

The figures that are reported represent identified cases, situations where something has been recognised and brought into the system. They do not capture the full extent of the problem. Many victims never come forward. Many situations remain hidden, either through fear, lack of awareness or the subtlety of the conditions involved.

This means that the true scale is likely higher than any official number suggests.

It also means that modern slavery can exist alongside everyday life without being immediately visible. It can sit behind familiar settings, within industries that appear ordinary, sustained by systems that are not designed to expose it easily.

A Question About the Systems Around Us

What makes this issue particularly significant in the current moment is how closely it connects to broader questions about the systems people rely on. The UK has legal frameworks in place. It has institutions designed to protect vulnerable individuals. It has enforcement bodies tasked with identifying and addressing exploitation. None of these has disappeared.

And yet, the number of people being drawn into situations of exploitation is increasing.

This does not point to a single failure. It points to a more complex reality in which systems exist, but are being tested by changing conditions. Economic pressure creates vulnerability. Technology enables new forms of control. Enforcement struggles to keep pace with both.

In that space, exploitation finds room to grow.

A Problem That Demands Attention, Not Distance

It would be easier to treat modern slavery as an issue that exists at the edges, something separate from the everyday concerns of most people. But the evidence suggests that it is more closely connected to the conditions shaping modern Britain than many would expect.

It is tied to how people work, how they live, how they access opportunities and how they are supported when those systems do not function as intended.

That is what makes it difficult to ignore. Not simply the scale of the problem, but the way it reflects deeper pressures within society. Modern slavery has not reappeared. It has adapted.

And as it adapts, it raises a question that is harder to answer than it first appears. If the systems designed to prevent exploitation are in place, why is it still increasing?

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Should employees take a pay cut for working from home?

Diane Hall
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The original Post was Published Nov 15th 2021

I’ve seen posts on forums from both employers and employees suggesting that remote jobs, when advertised in the future, should offer a lower wage than similar positions fulfilled by someone physically present in the workplace.

The argument is that employees who commute have to fork out travel and petrol costs, which remote workers don’t have to do—and that this isn’t fair.

I can imagine this topic will divide opinion, though I can see both sides of the coin. I find commuting not just expensive in comparison, it’s also an ordeal—what with the sheer amount of traffic on the roads, train/bus delays, getting through crowds of fellow commuters, and the British weather to battle (this might be just my opinion).

Homeworkers do have costs to meet that their office-based colleagues don’t, such as extra heating costs. A bigger electricity bill to run their laptop. They’ll use more water from extra toilet flushes and as they boil the kettle numerous times during the day. These extras may not equate to the high cost of fuel or public transport fees, but it’s still extra expense that an office worker wouldn’t have to pay.

A recent survey showed that this suggestion is being taken seriously. 61% of those questioned would agree to a pay cut if it meant they could continue to work from home. Though finances are a consideration, the freedom, autonomy and work/life balance of homeworking appealed to many people during lockdown and they’re seemingly in no rush to give it up.

Older lady working from her coffee table in her white living room.

The homeworker vs. office worker distinction could become even more divisive when it comes to choosing people for promotion. Already there are numerous people in the public eye who have warned that employees could face stagnant careers if they continue to work remotely. Economist Catherine Mann believes women are particularly at risk of not getting ahead. She said, ‘Difficulty accessing childcare and pandemic-related disruption to schooling meant many women are continuing to work from home, while it’s been easier for men to return to the office. There is the potential for two tracks; there's the people who are on the virtual track and people who are on a physical track. And I do worry that we will see those two tracks develop, and we will pretty much know who's going to be on which track, unfortunately.’

A BBC survey shows that a quarter of all women working from home agree with Ms Mann, but that they’ve made their peace with the potential damage to their careers in favour of a happier, calmer and slower-paced working life that fits flexibly around all their other commitments and those of their families.

Working from home setup on a wooden dinning table.

Danielle Harmer, Chief People Officer at Aviva, thinks that remote working could be better accepted in our society without it having any negative impact on a person’s career opportunities. She suggests that it just takes some thought and future planning and a commitment from employers that home workers will not be an afterthought. She says, ‘I think if organisations leave it up to their employees, you could have a potential situation where those with caring responsibilities, who tend to be female, tend to work from home more often, and we look back in two years and think: hang on a second, why has the gender pay gap widened? Or why are female promotions slowing down a little? It's taken us a long time to make progress on things like the gender pay gap, and I think it would be terrible if we went backwards on it.’

If you look at figures released by the ONS, this situation isn’t playing out as widely as you may think. 60% of workers are reportedly back at the office or workplace they left when the pandemic began. One in six employees who have opted to work from home for the foreseeable are exercising a hybrid approach, with some time in the workplace and some time working remotely—perhaps the best of both worlds, it could be argued.

Some people see those who have chosen to continue working from home as benefitting from a pay rise of sorts, and it begs the question whether this will breed resentment within companies. A pay cut cannot be enforced by an employer without notice, and (I would imagine) lots of legal advice and input from HR. The country faces a transition now that technology allows us to work anywhere at any time; this has been on the cards for a while, the pandemic only propelled the situation.

Whether there really will be a financial divide between home/office workers is yet to be seen. Any impact on careers, if employees remain remote, may take longer to become apparent…