{"id":13094,"date":"2017-08-24T14:54:29","date_gmt":"2017-08-24T13:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=13094"},"modified":"2017-08-24T16:21:22","modified_gmt":"2017-08-24T15:21:22","slug":"low-pay-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=13094","title":{"rendered":"Low pay nation"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

The shocking extent to which low pay has gripped the entire country was laid bare today (August 24) in new figures published by the Labour Party.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The analysis of workers in the UK earning less than the Living Wage showed that the blight of low pay does not discriminate \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pervasive in cities and rural areas, wealthier boroughs and more deprived ones, north and south.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

West Somerset topped the list with the highest proportion of workers earning less than the Living Wage, which is the minimum rate needed to maintain a basic standard of living. There, nearly half \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 41 per cent \u00e2\u20ac\u201c of the working population does not earn enough to live decently.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This was despite West Somerset having among the fastest rising house prices<\/a> in all of the UK \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they rose more than 10 per cent in the year to May to \u00c2\u0141344,800.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cities, low pay is just as prevalent. More than 100,000 workers in Birmingham earn below the Living Wage \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nearly one out of every four people in the working population in the city.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Liverpool and Newcastle, too, about one in every four working people do not earn enough to maintain a basic standard of living, amounting to 50,000 people in Liverpool and 37,000 in Newcastle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Leeds, Glasgow and Manchester, nearly one in five earn below the Living Wage. And even leafy, ostensibly affluent suburbs such as Tunbridge Wells and Epsom and Ewell cannot escape Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s low pay disease \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in these areas, too, nearly one in five earn less than the Living Wage.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cornwall, studded with holiday homes worth millions of pounds, has among the highest concentration of low-paid workers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c there, a shocking one in three, or 56,000 working age people struggle to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A typical salary in Cornwall is \u00c2\u014115,000 to \u00c2\u014117,000 but the average house price<\/a> is 18 times this salary \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00c2\u0141324,000.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Living Wage is calculated each year by the Living Wage Foundation<\/a> based on what a person living in London or in the rest of the UK would have to earn to have a roof over their heads, put food on the table and care for their children.<\/p>\n

The London Living Wage is now set at \u00c2\u01419.75 an hour and \u00c2\u01418.45 in the rest of the country.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shameless rebranding <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so-called National Living Wage (NLW), a shameless rebranding of the mandatory minimum wage, is only \u00c2\u01417.50 an hour now \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and it applies only to those workers who are over 25. Young people between 21 and 24 are entitled to a meagre \u00c2\u01417.05 an hour and those younger still are paid an even lower minimum wage rate.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A new analysis this week<\/a> from the Child Action Poverty Group (CAP) found that the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s minimum wage falls far short of what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s needed to raise one child. Two parents working full-time on the minimum wage, the organisation found, will be \u00c2\u014159 short a week to meet their child\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most basic needs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Labour Party said it will raise the living standards of millions of the lowest paid workers in the UK as it renewed its commitment today (August 24) to raise the minimum wage to the real Living Wage, expected to be \u00c2\u014110 an hour by 2020.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Labour has said it will end the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s minimum wage age discrimination when it is in power, ensuring that all workers, no matter how old they are, earn the \u00e2\u20ac\u015breal\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Living Wage.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s minimum wage lags far behind the real Living Wage \u00e2\u20ac\u201c according to forecasts by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), it will only be \u00c2\u01418.75 an hour by 2020, under the \u00c2\u01419 an hour the government had promised. Young workers will struggle on an even lower wage of \u00c2\u01417.75, according to the OBR\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s forecasts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Such rates will only prolong the decade of falling living standards that millions of workers have had to endure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Potential to make a difference <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In this climate of wage stagnation and rising inflation, Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plan to significantly raise the minimum wage has the potential to make a real difference for low-paid workers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Under the Labour Party\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proposals, full-time workers on the minimum wage will be \u00c2\u01412,500 better off in 2020, and workers aged 21 to 24 will be \u00c2\u01414,500 better off in 2020.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shadow secretary for business, energy and industrial strategy Rebecca Long-Bailey highlighted that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe stagnation of real wages has been unprecedented since at least the Second World War.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe must take bold and imaginative measures to tackle low pay,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOne crucial step in this direction is to raise the Minimum Wage to the level of the Living Wage, expected to be at least \u00c2\u014110 per hour by 2020, \u00e2\u20ac\u201c for all workers aged 18 or over.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPeople should be rewarded for a full day\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work and need the dignity that comes with decent wages. Britain needs a pay rise and only a Labour government can deliver one.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite has long been campaigning for an across-the-board rise in the minimum wage to the real Living Wage, and while the union fights on the political stage for all workers, it fights for its members in specific workplaces too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One successful campaign saw Unite members, cleaning staff for Hackney council, win the Living Wage last year. <\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary, Steve Turner, said raising the minimum wage to the real Living Wage would be a good first step in helping working people maintain a decent quality of life, but that more action is also needed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWorkers have suffered the longest squeeze in living standards in recorded history in recent years, thanks to the actions of this government and its predecessor,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Turner said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAn increase in the minimum wage to \u00c2\u014110 would benefit those on the lowest wages and is one of a number of measures that need to be enacted to prevent the economy and peoples\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 living standards from plummeting. These include ending the freeze on working age benefits and the real cuts to public sector pay.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMost importantly of all, we need public investment to create jobs and stimulate the economy and an end to the Tories\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 counter-productive reign of austerity.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The shocking extent to which low pay has gripped the entire country was laid bare today (August 24) in new figures published by the Labour Party.   The analysis of workers in the UK earning less than the Living Wage showed that the blight of low pay does not discriminate \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pervasive in cities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":912,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[23,96,215,355],"wps_subtitle":"Entire UK in low pay grip scandal","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13094"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13094"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13097,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13094\/revisions\/13097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}