2 Nov 2015
UK Living Wage Rate calculated by Loughborough University rises by 40p
The UK Living Wage rate has risen to £8.25 per hour, an increase of 40p on the 2014 rate, it has been announced today (Monday 2 November).
The Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) at Loughborough University calculates the Living Wage - outside of London - on an annual basis.
It does this by identifying the goods and services that households need in order to have a minimum acceptable standard of living, according to members of the general public. The Living Wage is then worked out by calculating how much people need to earn in order to pay for the goods and services, and therefore reach a minimum standard.
The uprating of the Living Wage figure each year takes account of rises in living costs and any changes in what people define as a ‘minimum’. It also takes some account of what is happening to wages generally.
The announcement today by the Living Wage Foundation will see a pay rise for approximately 68,000 staff that are employees of the accredited businesses that commit to paying all their staff, including sub-contracted teams working on their premises, at least the Living Wage.
There are now more than 2,000 accredited Living Wage employers across the UK. This doubles the number of accredited businesses from November 2014.
Accredited Living Wage employers will pay their staff at least the new voluntary Living Wage rate of £8.25 per hour, rising from £7.85; significantly higher than the national minimum wage of £6.70 per hour, and the new minimum wage premium for over 25s of £7.20 per hour that will come into force across the UK in April 2016.
Read the full press release for more information.