130,000 Londoners set for 10% cost-of-living pay rise

More than 130,000 Londoners working for 3,500 Living Wage Employers are set for a 10 per cent cost-of-living pay boost.

Campaign organisation The Living Wage Foundation announced today that the London Living Wage rate will rise from £11.95 to £13.15 per hour.

This means workers on the London Living Wage will be earning £2,145 more than their current pay each year.

Hundreds of small businesses in South London are accredited, including Brothers Bakery, in Stratheden Road, Blackheath, Emergency Exit Arts in Azof Street, Greenwich, and Peter’s Panas in Peninsula Square, North Greenwich.

Living Wage Employers have a maximum of six months to implement the rate rise to their workers.

The real Living Wage rate for the rest of the UK has also risen by 10 per cent, to £12 an hour.

The real Living Wage is different from the National Living Wage. It is the only wage rate independently calculated and based on rising living costs, and applies to everyone over the age of 18.

Any full-time worker earning the new London Living Wage would earn £5,323.50 more than someone on the current National Living Wage.

Over the past two years, the Living Wage movement in London has continued to grow, with the number of Living Wage Employers more than doubling. 

Recent research by the Living Wage Foundation shows that despite inflation easing, 60 per cent of low paid Londoners have used a food bank in the past year, with 39 per cent regularly skipping meals.

Katherine Chapman, director of the Living Wage Foundation, said: “As inflation eases, we cannot forget that low paid workers remain at the sharp end of the cost of living crisis. 

“Low paid workers continue to struggle with stubbornly high prices because they spend a larger share of their budget on food and energy. 

“These new real Living Wage rates are a lifeline for the 460,000 workers who will get a pay rise.

“During these tough economic times, it is heartening that record numbers of employers are signing up to join the Living Wage movement, protecting everyone who works for them – including cleaners -from rising prices and seeing the benefits of a more motivated and engaged workforce.”

Today, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has also announced that the Greater London Authority (GLA) will become a Living Hours employer. 

Living Hours is a scheme to tackle insecure work, with employers committing to four weeks’ notice of shifts, at least 16 hours a week – unless requested otherwise – and a contract that accurately reflects hours worked.

Mr Khan, said: “Increasing the London Living Wage means a pay rise for more than 130,000 Londoners, which is welcome particularly in these difficult financial times for so many. 

“I have always championed the London Living Wage and I am proud that now more than 3,500 London employers have joined me in recognising the importance and benefits of paying hard working Londoners a fair wage – a six-fold increase since I became Mayor.”

Pictured top: Accredited small business, Brothers Bakery (Picture: Living Wage Foundation)