Half a million workers get £1,250 pay rise as Real Living Wage rises to £14.10 an hour
10 an hour, a rate the Living Wage Foundation warns still leaves 37% of low-paid UK workers having used a foodbank in the past year.
Almost 500,000 low-paid workers have received a pay boost after the voluntary Real Living Wage rose by 65p to £14.10 an hour across the UK and £15.45 in London. A full-time worker on the new rate will earn over £2,700 a year more than someone on the government's statutory minimum of £12.71. Emily Sawh, co-director of the Living Wage Foundation, warned that despite the rise, millions remain trapped in in-work poverty, forced to skip meals and use foodbanks. The announcement marks 25 years since the campaign began among low-paid workers in east London.
Nearly 17,000 employers — including IKEA, Uniqlo and Everton FC — have committed to the voluntary rate.
Since its launch, the campaign has put close to £5bn into the pockets of low-paid workers, with almost £700m of that figure accumulated in the last year alone.
