The Living Wage Campaign calls for every worker in the country to earn enough to provide their family with the essentials of life.
The Living Wage is an hourly rate, set
independently, every year. It is calculated
according to cost of living and gives the minimum pay rate required for a
worker to provide their family with the essentials of life.
In London the current rate is £8.30 per hour.
Outside of London the current rate is £7.20.
Paying the Living Wage is good for business, good for the individual and good for society.
Thinktank the Resolution Foundation
has looked at workers up and down the country earning less than a
"living wage". It found that more than one in five employees falls into
this group, echoing recent work by the TUC, which uncovered what it
called a "livelihood crisis" among the growing swathe of the workforce stuck in low-paid jobs.
Using official earnings figures, Resolution finds that in some parts of
the country, almost a quarter of the workforce are taking home less than
this.
Nicola Smith, head of economics and social affairs development at the
TUC, says structural changes, such as the decline of the manufacturing
sector, have hollowed out the skilled-jobs sector that once made up a
large proportion of the workforce, resulting in a polarisation between
high-paying "knowledge economy" jobs, monopolised by graduates, and a
"long tail" of lower-skilled workers struggling to get by.
Cuts in public sector jobs, the use of bonus pay instead of consolidated basic pay will increase this trend.
We all deserve a fair days pay for a fair days work.
The proposals by the coalition on regional pay will only increase the divide in the way people are paid.
The on-going austerity measures are not working as the UK's economy is back in recession.
Creating jobs and ensuring a UK living wage will boost the economy and cut the deficit. Cutting public services and jobs only damages the economy further.
There is an alternative:
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