This week is Living Wage Week. Compassion Acts are proud to be a Living Wage Employer; one of almost 9000 employers in the UK to be accredited by the Living Wage Foundation.
The Living Wage campaign is an independent movement of businesses, organisations and people who believe a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay. Employers choose to pay the Real Living Wage on a voluntary basis and it provides an ethical benchmark for responsible pay.
The campaign for a Living Wage was launched by members of London Citizens in 2001. Parents in East London found that despite working on two or more minimum wage jobs they were struggling to make ends meet, and were left with no time for community and family life. This is also a trend we see borne out in our local area. The campaign is an example of how civil society, businesses and organisations can work together to tackle in-work poverty. It enjoys cross party support with public backing from successive Metropolitan Mayors and MPs across the UK, including First Ministers in Wales and Scotland.
The ‘Real Living Wage’ is independently calculated based on what employees and their families need to live. This is why it’s higher than the government minimum wage, somewhat confusingly rebranded as the ‘National Living Wage’. Employers voluntarily choose to pay it – changing people’s lives right now. It applies to all workers over 18 – recognising that young people have the same living costs as everyone else.
Compassion Acts Chief Executive Richard Owens comments “Our greatest asset as a small charity is our workforce. Colleagues who go above and beyond each week to help our service users. We are also committed to reducing poverty in society as a whole here in the Southport area, where many people struggle on below average wages. One of the ways that will be done is through increasing financial security- a Real Living Wage is part of that. So as a local employer too, we can do our bit.”
The campaign for a real Living Wage has now delivered more than £1.5billion in extra wages to workers since it began in 2001 and has lifted over 260,000 people out of in-work poverty.
Find out more and become a Living Wage employer today – Living Wage Foundation | For the real cost of living