Real Living Wage (not to be confused with National Minimum Wage) increase to £9 in Wales

If you work for a real ‘Living Wage’ employer in Wales you’ll receive a 2.8% pay rise today up to £9 per hour.

The Living Wage rate is independently calculated and based on the real cost of living, it is a voluntary rate which employers sign up to.

There are 176 Welsh Living Wage employers in Wales, according to the livingwage.org.uk map – 25 Flintshire employers have signed up to the rate including several Deeside Industrial Estate-based firms and Coleg Cambria.

Across the UK around 180,000 people will get the 25p rise to £9, and 35p rise in London to £10.55.

The 2018 increases have been largely driven by higher transport costs, private rents and council tax feeding through to the basket of goods and services that underpin the rates.

Rates for the National Minimum Wage, the minimum pay per hour almost all workers are entitled is not affected by today’s rise, it remains at £7.83 – for over 25’s.

Living Wage Foundation Director, Tess Lanning, said:

“The Living Wage campaign is about tackling the rising problem of people paid less than they need to live. Responsible businesses know that the government minimum is not enough to live on, and today’s new Living Wage rates will provide a boost for  thousands of workers throughout Wales.

“Employers that pay the real Living Wage enable their workers to live a life of dignity, supporting them to pay off debts and meet the pressures of rising bills.

We want to see local councils, universities, football clubs, bus companies and the other major public and private sector employers in every city commit to become real Living Wage employers.

When they do, thousands of people get a pay rise, but other local employers also follow their lead. If more of these institutions step up, we can start to build true Living Wage places.”

Mari Arthur, Director of Cynnal Cymru, the Living Wage Accrediting Body for Wales said:

“I am really pleased that the real Living Wage movement is growing in Wales, we have had some excellent organisations accredit over the last few months and it’s heart-warming to see so many people benefiting from an increase to their monthly pay.

I look forward to working with all our employers to get Wales’ total to 200 by the end of the year.”

The Living Wage Foundation is calling on all major employers to help tackle this rising problem of low pay by committing to go beyond the government minimum and pay a wage their staff can really live on.

Research for the Living Wage Foundation published today found that if local authorities, universities and sports facilities (including football clubs) in towns and cities across the country signed up to the Living Wage, an additional 480,000 low paid workers could benefit.

More than 1,200 employers have signed up to go beyond the government minimum to pay the real Living Wage in the last year, including companies as diverse as Liverpool FC, University of Bristol, Sheffield City Region and Aberystwyth University.

They join over 4,700 employers across the UK, including over a third of the FTSE 100, household names like IKEA, Aviva, Nationwide and Google, as well as thousands of small businesses, who are choosing to pay the real Living Wage to ensure all staff, including sub-contracted workers, earn a wage that meets the real cost of living.