The Living Wage Foundation has announced that the real living wage has increased…
The real living wage is an hourly rate of pay that is set independently and updated annually by The Living Wage Foundation. This rate is not the UK government’s National Living Wage/National Minimum Wage (NLW/NMW) , which you can find details of here.
Unlike the governments NLW/NMW, the real living wage is independently calculated based on rising living costs in the UK and applies to everyone over the age of 18.
The foundation announced on 24th October 2023, that the real living wage has increased to £12 in the UK and £13.15 in London specifically.
The other keys points from their announcement were:
- A 10% increase in the real living wage, as the cost of living continues to hit low paid workers the hardest.
- Over 460,000 real living wage workers are set for a pay boost as 14,000 real living wage employers are signed up to pay the new rates.
- Of those 14,000 real living wage employers, there are a tonne of household names including IKEA, Nationwide, Lush, Aviva, Everton F.C. and many more.
- The new real living wage rates are now worth over £3,000 more per year in the UK, than the minimum wage and over £5,000 in London specifically.
- £3bn in extra wages has gone to low paid workers since 2011.
- In the past three years, the number of real living wage employers has more than doubled.
- 94% of real living wage accredited employers reported benefits to their business due to paying the real living wage. These benefits included: an improvement in the reputation of the business and improvement in recruitment and retention of employees.
