𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

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Half a million workers across the UK are set to receive a pay rise worth over £1,000 a year, as increases are announced to the real living wage.

Close to 17,000 employers are signed up to pay the living wage – calculated on the actual cost of essentials such as housing, food, and energy, from big international firms to small businesses. This equates to almost 500,000 employees getting rises of more than four per cent.

Analysis from the Living Wage Foundation suggests that will see a worker earning more than £2,700 a year extra compared to one earning the current government minimum wage.

The real living wage rates will now rise to £14.10 an hour across the UK, which is a 65p (4.8 per cent) increase. In London, the rate will be £15.45 an hour, a 65p (4.4 per cent) increase.

Emily Sawh, co-director of the Living Wage Foundation, said: “Today’s increase to the real living wage will make a massive difference to hundreds of thousands of workers and their families up and down the country. They will be over £1,250 better off this year thanks to the rise, helping them achieve the decent standard of living they need to thrive.”

The living wage campaign is now marking its 25th year since launching.

It is estimated that one in seven employees works for a living wage employer. Some of the major or well-known employers include Uniqlo, Ikea, Lush, Transport for London, Nationwide Building Society and Liverpool Football Club.

In the UK, the government’s national living wage, rather than the campaign’s real living wage, is £12.71 an hour for employees who are 21 and over.

Ms Sawh added: “This year marks the 25th anniversary of the living wage campaign, which began as a hopeful idea, driven by low-paid workers in East London organising for decent pay. It has grown into one of the most successful campaigns of the 21st Century, with nearly 17,000 employers committed to decent pay for all their workers and billions of pounds back in the pockets of those who need it most.

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“Despite the living wage campaign’s monumental impact on wages in the UK, there are still millions of workers trapped in in-work poverty and struggling every day to make ends meet. They’re forced to skip meals, fall behind on bills, and visit foodbanks. That’s why we urge employers to do the right thing by signing up to pay the real living wage and providing workers with the decent standard of living they need to thrive.”