Many London wages below poverty threshold: study |
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Mon, 04 Apr 2005 01:00
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One in seven London employees get a salary that falls below the poverty threshold, a study by The Living Wage Unit has found. The unit, which was set up by Mayor Ken Livingstone in 2004, has pegged the poverty threshold wage at £5.80 per hour. A person can have a reasonably comfortable existence if he or she earns a ‘living wage’ of at least £6.70 per hour.
Statistics from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) showed that in London, 85 per cent of full-time employees, translated to over 2.2 million employees, got more than the living wage. About 6 per cent of full-time workers, translated to 170,000 employees, got salaries falling below living wage levels but above poverty threshold levels. Another 9 per cent, around 230,000 employees, got wages below poverty level.
| A study of part-timers showed that 50 per cent receive more than a living wage and around 14 per cent, 93,000 employees, got less than the living wage but more than poverty level wages. Around 35 per cent of part-timers, around 230,000 employees, got salaries that were below the poverty threshold.
“If London housing costs were the same as the United Kingdom average, the poverty threshold wage in London would fall to around £5.30 per hour. In short, the single biggest factor in raising the proportion of employees in London receiving below poverty threshold wages is high housing costs,” the study said.
Describing the figures as ‘disturbing’, Mayor Livingstone said, “These findings show the importance not only of the fight against low pay but indicate why I have laid such stress on the achievement of an adequate supply of affordable housing in London.”
Britain’s new national minimum wage, which would take effect in October this year, is £5.05 per hour. Calling the findings ‘shocking’, Dave Prentis, general secretary of public service union UNISON, said, “It’s a scandal that so many people are paid below the poverty threshold in the capital of the fourth richest nation and have to rely on state benefits to get by.”
Deborah Littman, chairman, London Citizens Living Wage Campaign, said that she wanted to ‘see a situation where firms and organizations in London who aspire to being seen as socially responsible’ feel an obligation to ensure their staff earn at least the living wage.
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