Member Article

Nearly half a million in Yorkshire & the Humber earn below Living Wage

Over 480,000 people in Yorkshire and the Humber are earning below the Living Wage according to research by KPMG.

The research shows that in Yorkshire and The Humber, out of the 1.9 million people in employment, 25% are earning below the Living Wage, compared to the UK national average of 22%.

The region ranks joint second in the UK, alongside the North East and behind Northern Ireland, as the area with the highest concentration of people earning below the living wage.

13 Leeds firms, 7 Sheffield businesses and 8 York organisations including City of York Council have subscribed to the scheme, as well as many others in Yorkshire including The Spencer Group, Aspire-i and the University of Huddersfield.

The UK Living Wage rate has been set at £7.85 per hour, an increase of 2.6% on the 2013 rate and 21% higher than the national minimum wage of £6.50 per hour.

This is set the improve the pay of 35,000 low-paid workers across the country who are employed by over 1,000 Living Wage accredited organisations, but according to KPMG 5.28 million UK workers are being paid less than the Living Wage, with huge swathes of employees working in the retail, catering and care sectors, clustered around minimum wage pay levels.

Chris Hearld, Northern regional chairman and office senior partner at KPMG in Leeds, said: “Far too many employees in Yorkshire and the Humber are stuck in the spiral of low pay.

“The research identifies statistics and trends, but it also reports the concerns of people earning below the Living Wage who expect their finances to worsen during the next 12 months and shows that debt levels have continued to rise among this group.

“Unless wages rise, nearly half a million employed people in the region earning below the Living Wage will see themselves caught between the desire to contribute to society and the inability to afford to do so.

“Business benefits of the Living Wage include higher retention and productivity, and over 1,000 responsible businesses recognise this. The Living Wage may not be possible for every business, but is certainly not impossible to explore the feasibility of paying it.”

The Living Wage is calculated by the Centre for Research in Social Policy, Loughborough University, whilst in the capital the rate is set by the Greater London Authority and is based on a combination of a basic living costs approach and income distribution, with respect to a variety of household types which takes account the unique circumstances of living in London.

Rhys Moore, director, Living Wage Foundation said: “As the recovery continues it’s vital that the proceeds of growth are properly shared. It’s not enough to simply hope for the best.

“It will take concerted action by employers, government and civil society to raise the wages of the five million workers who earn less than the Living Wage.

“The good news is that the number of accredited Living Wage employers has more than doubled this year – over 1,000 employers across the UK have signed up. In the last 12 months the number of Living Wage employers in the FSTE 100 has risen from four to 18 including Canary Wharf Group and Standard Life.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .