The Living Wage
The idea behind a living wage is very simple: that a person should be paid enough to live decently and to adequately provide for their family.
The national minimum wage is too low
The highest rate of the statutory national minimum wage is currently £7.50 an hour. This has been proven to be too little for a person to make ends meet for themselves and their family.
The voluntary national living wage rate is now £8.75 an hour, outside of London.
The voluntary London living wage is now £10.20 an hour.
Some 6.3 million people, 23% of the working population, earn less than a living wage.
The taxpayer is subsidising poverty wages to the tune of £3.6bn a year, including £1.1bn in means-tested benefits.
We won the minimum wage – I want to add a living wage to the list of the union’s achievements.
Dave Prentis, UNISON general secretary