Living Wage Week: 78% of low paid workers struggling as more than half access food banks

News

As IWFM marks Living Wage Week, research by the Living Wage Foundation has revealed that record inflation combined with low wages is hitting Britain’s 4.8million low paid workers harder than anything they’ve faced before, including the pandemic.

Over 2,000 workers earning less than the real Living Wage were polled by the Living Wage Foundation and Survation, as they found that 78% of low paid workers say that the cost-of-living crisis is the worst financial period they’ve ever faced. More than half (56%) of respondents reported using a foodbank in the last 12 months, while 63% of those using foodbanks said they’d increased their use in the past year.

In other worrying findings, almost half of low paid workers (42% - up 10% since January 2022) are regularly skipping meals, roughly a third (32% - up 9% since January) reported being unable to heat their homes, and around a quarter (24% - up 7% since January) had to take out a payday loan to cover essentials.

In September, the Living Wage Foundation announced record increases to its ‘real Living Wage’ rates, which are based on actual living costs and significantly higher than the government’s official National Living Wage rate. Brought forward from November due to the cost-of-living crisis, the rates were set at £10.90 across the UK and £11.95 in London, representing increases of £1 and 90p respectively – an up to 10% rise that’s unprecedented in the Foundation’s history. The National Living Wage is currently set at £9.50 for those aged 23 and over with no London weighted rate.

Reports in the media suggest that this week’s Autumn Statement will confirm a 90p increase to the National Living Wage, to come into effect next April. However, this would still fall well short of the Foundation’s cost-based rates; meanwhile, the country’s poorest households that are currently experiencing the fastest rise in the cost-of-living, with price increases in excess of 16% (source: BBC News), will see no benefit for several months.

‘It is not right’

Sofie Hooper, IWFM’s Head of Policy, commented, ‘The workplace and facilities management sector has many low-paid employees. These are the same people who risked their health and their lives providing critical frontline support during the pandemic.

‘It is not right to let anyone suffer low pay in these extraordinary times, let alone people who have given society so much in its darkest moments. Even with the government’s National Living Wage rate anticipated to rise in an unprecedented manner, it does not meet the needs of the poorest households for whom prices are rising even faster.

‘IWFM is proud to support the real Living Wage and we urge other employers to do the same. Please read IWFM’s Living Wage guidance and do the right thing.’

IWFM is a Living Wage Employer and a member of the Living Wage Foundation Recognised Service Providers Leadership Group - sector organisations who support and actively promote the real Living Wage to clients and supply chains, helping to end low pay. 

In partnership with the Living Wage Foundation, IWFM has produced guidance on the real Living Wage, outlining the benefits and practicalities of paying it for the workplace and facilities management profession. While it remains a practical and useful document that we encourage you to read, we are launching updated guidance in early 2023 to include the Foundation’s latest rates and other relevant, current information.