One in five UK jobs pays under Living Wage rate

In some parts of Britain half the jobs are paying less than the living wage, the TUC has revealed at the start of the second week of its Fair Pay Fortnight.

TUC analysis of official figures from the House of Commons Library shows that one in five jobs in the UK pays under the living wage – currently set at £9.15 in London and £7.85 across the rest of Britain. But in some parliamentary constituencies more than half of the people working there earn less than this.

Across Great Britain, more than 5m people get paid less than the living wage. Birmingham Northfield tops the list of living wage blackspots with 53.4%  of people working there earning less than £7.85 an hour, followed by Kingswood near Bristol (51%) and Dwyfor Meirionnydd in north Wales (50.9%).

For working women the picture is worse. Well over half of women working in Birmingham Northfield (63.1%), Kingswood (59.6%) and East Yorkshire (58.7%) take home less than the living wage. 

TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady said: “Extending the living wage is a vital step towards tackling the growing problem of in-work poverty across Britain.

“The number of living wage employers is growing rapidly and unions are playing their part in encouraging more employers to sign up and pay it. But we need to see a far wider commitment to pay the living wage from government, employers and modern wages councils – to drive up productivity and set higher minimum rates in industries where employers can afford to pay their staff more.”