Two reports were published in December 2013 that highlighted the problem of low and falling pay for UK workers. The first was from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the social policy research and development charity which was one of several trusts set up in 1904 by another Quaker chocolatier and philanthropist. The report entitled 'Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion 2013' revealed that "around 6.7m people, over half of all those in poverty, live in a family with at least one adult who is working – an increase of 500,000 on last year" and "half of working families in poverty have an adult paid below the Living Wage".
The second report was from the New Economics Foundation, a social and ecological public policy think tank. Entitled 'Raising the Benchmark', it raised the issue of low pay amongst public sector workers, stating that "Public services employ one million low wage workers" and "1 in 4 local authority workers are on low pay, a similar figure to those employed in the private sector". Its main recommendation was the ending the public sector pay freeze and adoption of the living wage, arguing that this would have economic benefits for the entire country.
In addition, the New York Times published this article on the increase of the working poor and food banks in the UK.
So what is the Living Wage? According to The Living Wage Foundation, which supports and encourages employers to adopt this policy, in London it is £8.80 per hour and £7.65 in the rest of the UK. This is higher than the statuary Minimum Wage which is currently £6.31.
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