Living Wage
Posted 16 December 2008
We have been very aware that a number of Londoners living in poverty have been those in paid employment. This is because many are paid wages which are insufficient to live on. For example, 9% of full-time and 35% of part-time workers are receiving less than poverty threshold wages. A key tool in tackling low pay has been the Living Wage campaign which advocates for a wage level (currently set at £7.45 an hour) which takes into account the capital's high living costs.
Having funded the campaign for a number of years we have decided to provide significant new funding for this initiative. Over the next four years we will provide over £850,000 to develop and expand this work. This will be used to commission new research to assess the potential benefits to employers and employees of a Living Wage. In addition, London Citizens www.londoncitizens.org.uk/ has been awarded £685,000 to establish a dedicated London Living Wage Unit. The aim of the Unit is to drive forward additional campaign work, particularly in the public and retail sectors, and to undertake the compliance and accreditation of businesses and agencies who sign up as Living Wage employers. It is expected that by 2012 an additional 37,000 Londoners will be earning a Living Wage and the annual additional financial benefit for employees will be over £111 million in wages.
More information can be downloaded below: