Difference between minimum pay and Real Living Wage 'worth 14 weeks of food'

30 March 2023 , 23:01

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The cost-of-living crisis is piling pressure on household finances (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The lowest-paid workers could afford 14 more weeks of food if their pay was hiked to the Real Living Wage, research shows today.

The minimum hourly rate for staff aged 23 and over rises tomorrow from £9.50 to £10.42.

But campaigners want bosses to go further and pay the voluntary Real Living Wage - currently £10.90 an hour for workers of all ages.

The Living Wage Foundation used latest Office for National Statistics data for the year to March 2021, which showed the average household spent £63.30 a week on food.

With Real Living Wage earners £936 a year better off than counterparts on the National Living Wage - the Government’s rebranded legal minimum wage - it equates to 14 weeks of average food bills.

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Foundation director Katherine Chapman welcomed the “significant rise in the National Living Wage” which would be a “boost to ease some of the pressure inflation continues to pile onto low-paid workers”.”

Living Wage Foundation director Katherine Chapman

But she added: “It remains lower than the Real Living Wage which is based on the cost of living – the good news is we have seen record numbers of employers signing up to pay the higher Real Living Wage to protect their lowest-paid staff during these tough times.”

More than 12,500 firms and organisations are signed-up to the Foundation’s scheme.

The rate, which is £11.95 in London where costs are higher, is calculated according to the cost of living, based on a basket of goods and services.

Ms Chapman said: “There are now over 12,500 Living Wage employers across the UK who not only provide stability and certainty to their employees but also helping move us to a high-wage, high-growth economy as decently-paid employees are likely to be more committed, productive and spend more in their local economies.

“The Living Wage is good for people and business and we encourage those organisations who can, to make the Living Wage commitment too.”

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Ben Glaze