What is the Living Wage?
The Living Wage is the lowest hourly rate by which one can sustain their basic financial needs and live without fear of poverty. In London the rate is £8.30 per hour and outside of London the rate is £7.20 per hour. The Living Wage is calculated by considering the lowest average cost of the following areas: social housing rent, council tax, childcare, transport and the regional cost of a shopping basket including food, clothing and household goods.
Why are we supporting the Living Wage?
To put it simply we believe in a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay. Anything below the Living Wage means that employees are living only to work, without the time and money to enjoy a better quality of life. Suffice to say that those receiving anything less are living below the poverty line. Any employer failing to pay a Living Wage is perpetuating this and consequently counteracting on the morale of their workforce. Individuals who are paid well want to work and are incentivised to do so. The Living Wage shows employers respect their workforce and want to treat them fairly, thereby guaranteeing increased productivity and loyalty.
We believe universities and colleges want to be seen as the most progressive employers in the country. We also believe that students expect their institutions to act with fairness and equality towards both students and employees and that the Living Wage reflects this. Do all universities pay at least the Living Wage? Sadly the answer is no and many institutions outsource to contractors for their lowest paid staff including domestics workers. These contractors will often pay no more than the national minimum wage.
Queen Mary, University of London is one of the institutions paying the Living Wage and Principal Professor Simon Gaskell explained why:
“Paying the Living Wage has brought dividends to Queen Mary. Staff feel rewarded and the wider community – both on and off campus – have fully backed the idea.”
With many institutions paying their senior staff and vice-chancellors extremely high wages there is a disparity that needs to be addressed. Can we really advocate institutions that leave a large portion of their staff below the poverty line while others are deemed worthy of astronomical wages? Queen Mary’s Professor Jane Wills estimated that in London over 10,000 families have been lifted out of poverty through the Living Wage with a transfer of over £70 million to some of the poorest workers in London. You can drive fairness in your institution and encourage them to pay at the Living Wage.
Want to know how the Living Wage is calculated? Read GLA’s report on the London Living Wage and CRSP’s report on the National Living Wage.
For Professor Wills Living Wage research click here.