• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Elevenses
  • Business
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Property
  • JOBS
  • All
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Sport
    • Tech/Auto
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Business and Economics Business

Matching the Cost of Living

While all indicators point to a strong economic recovery in Britain, people still aren’t feeling it. We have paid the price of inequality for recovery with food banks on the rise despite unemployment figures dropping. Simply put, businesses are reluctant to match the cost of living in the UK. Today’s announcement that the Living Wage […]

Joe Mellor by Joe Mellor
2014-11-03 14:16
in Business, Politics
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

While all indicators point to a strong economic recovery in Britain, people still aren’t feeling it. We have paid the price of inequality for recovery with food banks on the rise despite unemployment figures dropping. Simply put, businesses are reluctant to match the cost of living in the UK.

Today’s announcement that the Living Wage is set to rise to £7.85 should be a welcomed bit of news, but it’s hard not to feel a little bitter sweet. Although 35,000 low-paid workers will receive an extra 20p an hour at participating firms, the largely symbolic gesture was only announced after a study had revealed that 5.2 million people, or 22 per cent of the workforce, are paid less than the Living Wage and struggle to keep up with rising living costs and inflation.

The legally-enforcable national minimum wage is currently 21 per cent lower than the national Living Wage at £6.50 per hour for adults over 21. This pitiful level is what had the staff at the Rixy Cinema in a furore, campaigning successfully for the cinema chain to firstly pay the Living Wage and then curtailing redundancies when said company spitefully threatened to cut the workforce.

But as Luke Massay argued today in the New Statesman: “A thin façade of a commitment to equity is belied by a refusal to genuinely embed the principle of paying workers a wage on which they can maintain a decent standard of living.

“In that dichotomy lies the problem, and also the solution. The pressure which businesses feel – to be seen to be doing the right thing – is already there: and turning it up is the key.”

The independently set Living Wage is levied according to the basic cost of living in the UK. Of the 1,000 or so employees that pay the rate, three-quarters of them reported increases in quality of their work.

Rhys Moore, director of the Living Wage Foundation, said “firms that pay the minimum wage are seeing their workers’ pay topped up through the benefits system”.

He added that “rewarding a hard day’s work with a fair day’s pay” was the core principle of the Living Wage. Is it time for businesses to listen up?

RelatedPosts

Oliver Dowden takes near-empty RAF plane to New York to discuss climate change

Johnson off the hook after committing ‘clear and unambiguous breach’ of the rules

Telegraph dubs PM’s net zero address his ‘best speech ever’

Rishi Sunak insists he is ‘absolutely not slowing down’ climate efforts

Previous Post

Survival of The Most Adaptable

Next Post

Get Your Skin in Tip Top Shape for the Party Season Ahead

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

More from TLE

Hotel of the month: Bishopstrow Hotel & Spa 

Lords slam government’s ‘deep-rooted complacency’ in regulating water industry

Russell Brand denies ‘criminal allegations’ ahead of Channel 4 Dispatches

Coutinho: ‘Pragmatic’ approach needed on net zero, says new Energy Secretary

MPs press GB News on Dan Wootton investigation

Government proposals to cut benefits dubbed ‘horrific’ by Peter Stefanovic

Four ways to know if you’re being gaslighted at work

American XL bully dogs to be banned in UK, says Rishi Sunak

Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry handed new contracts

Mark Carney obliterates Brexit and Liz Truss at world leader event

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




-->