UK employers are responding to the cost of living crisis by signing up to pay the “real living wage” at rates never before seen.
The Living Wage Foundation reports it has reached the milestone of 10,000 living wage employers, with the Royal Albert Hall and The Fed among the major companies who have been accredited in the last three months.
Living wage employers commit to paying all staff – including contracted workers – the independently calculated rate, currently set at £9.90 in most of the UK, and £11.05 in London.
The real living wage is calculated every year, taking into consideration the cost of food, bills and rent, and almost half of the employers who have signed up have done so since March 2020.
Household names including Aviva, National Express, Ikea, Burberry, and Liverpool and Everton football clubs are among small, medium and large businesses who have signed up.
Now almost 350,000 people earn a real living wage in the UK – and one in 13 UK workers work for an employer who pays the real living wage or higher.