Living Wage Week (5th – 11th November)

Ahead of the start of Living Wage Week (5th – 11th November) and the UK government’s budget, the SNP has called on the Tory government to take action now to bring their National Living Wage up to the level of the Real Living Wage to make a real difference to working people’s lives.The Tories have attempted to portray their comparatively paltry £7.50 an hour minimum wage as a ‘Living Wage’ – despite only applying to those over 25, and being currently nearly £1 an hour lower than the Real Living Wage. Those under the age of 25 are entitled to even smaller amounts – taking more money away from young people in our economy at the same time as their access to social security, including housing benefit, is being cut.Figures provided by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre have shown that raising the National Living Wage to the level of the current Real Living Wage would boost incomes by nearly £2,000 a year – with those on the minimum wage for 21-25 year olds benefiting from nearly £2,700 extra a year.

The UK rate has increased by 2.4% from £8.25 to £8.45. This is 17% higher than the government minimum for over 25s which is £7.20 per hour. And in total nearly 1,000 employers have signed up since Living Wage Week last year bringing the total number of accredited Living Wage organisations to nearly 3000.

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