460,000 employees have received a pay rise as a result of the Living Wage campaign
This week is Living Wage Week 2023. Join us to celebrate the movement that’s given hundreds of thousands of workers a pay rise with a real #LivingWage.
Accord is proud to be a Living Wage Employer and to have encouraged both Lloyds Banking Group and TSB to join us by committing to ensuring everyone has a real living wage. This #LivingWageWeek the focus is on tackling the cost of living with a real Living Wage and decent work. That's what the Living Wage movement is all about!
So far, over 460,000 employees have received a pay rise as a result of the Living Wage campaign. It is voluntarily paid by over 14,000 UK businesses who believe their staff deserve a wage which meets everyday needs - like the weekly shop, or a surprise trip to the dentist.
Recent research demonstrates that the cost-of-living crisis is far from over, with 60% of those earning below the real living wage found had visited a food bank in the past year and 39% regularly skipped meals for financial reasons.
The new Living Wage rates were announced on Tuesday 24th October 2023 and represent a 10% increase - £12 across the UK (£1.10 increase), and £13.15 in London (£1.20 increase) - by comparison, the National Minimum/Living wage set by the Government is currently £10.42.
The real living wage is based on what people need to live and employers pay it voluntarily. At the heart of the movement is the idea that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay. With the cost-of-living crisis causing inflation and our bills to spiral, the Living Wage foundation have factored this into the new rates for 2023/24. There are now over 14,000 employers are now part of the movement - that's an increase of more than 3,000 employers since last year.
More than £3 billion in extra wages has gone to low-paid workers since the start of the Living Wage movement.
The cost-of-living crisis has shone a spotlight on low pay and the rising pressures facing families. It's still important that more businesses do the right thing and commit to paying a real Living Wage. The Living Wage Foundation is calling on all major employers to step up and tackle this problem together by committing to go beyond the government minimum and pay a wage in line with the actual cost of living.
Did you know @LivingWageUK’s real Living Wage is the only wage rate independently calculated to cover the cost of living? Spread the word using the hash tag #LivingWageWeek on social media.
Explaining UK wage rates
In April 2016 the government introduced a higher minimum wage rate for all staff over 25 years of age inspired by the Living Wage campaign - even calling it the ‘national living wage’.
However, this wage is not calculated according to what employees and their families need to live. Instead, it is based on a target to reach 66% of median earnings by 2024. The current expectation is that the government will increase minimum wages to around £11 from April 2024 but we won't yet know this for sure. The government minimum considers what is affordable for businesses, not what it costs you to live.
The real Living Wage rates are higher because they are independently calculated based on what people need to get by. That's why we encourage all employers that can afford to do so to ensure their employees earn a wage that meets the costs of living, not just the government minimum.
