THE ‘real’ living wage will top £11 an hour in London from Monday when 300,000 people across the UK can expect a pay rise.
An updated hourly rate, calculated by the Living Wage Foundation (LWF), comes into effect this morning and now stands at £9.90 in the UK and £11.05 in London – increases of 40p and 20p respectively.
The LWF says some 4.8 million people around the country – disproportionately including those from ‘racialised’ group – are paid less than its recommended salary, which is different to the Government’s ‘national living wage’.
That figure will rise to £9.50 an hour in for over 23s in April, but the current £8.91 rate is worth some £1,930 a year less than the new ‘real’ living wage for a full-time worker.
The Foundation’s director Katherine Chapman said: ‘With living costs rising so rapidly, today’s new living wage rates will provide hundreds of thousands of workers and their families with greater security and stability.
‘For the past 20 years, the living wage movement has shaped the debate on low pay, showing what is possible when responsible employers step up and provide a wage that delivers dignity.’
She continued: ‘Despite this, there are still millions trapped in working poverty, struggling to keep their heads above water – and these are people working in jobs that kept society going during the pandemic like social care workers and cleaners.
‘We know that the living wage is good for businesses as well as workers, and as we rebuild our economy post pandemic, the real living wage must be at its heart.’
The move follows a temporary £20-a-week increase in Universal Credit being cut and comes amid a cost of living crisis in the UK.
The new independently-calculated rate is based on what experts believe is needed to live on in the UK, including fuel, energy, rent and food.
This year’s increase has been largely driven by sharp recent rises in fuel and rent prices.