Campaign for a Living Wage

Isn't this just beautiful? Designed by a local design student, Alex Frances, the event that this flyer is promoting promises to be a fabulous way of marking International Workers Day this year.

Several of my favourite bands are appearing, there are some pretty fine speakers lined up and the event is also raising awareness about the campaign for a living wage. Stop reading now if you are one of those people who think that there is no place for politics on Blip - I won't be offended.

So: what's the difference between the minimum wage and a living wage, you may ask?

The Living Wage is calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK. It is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually and employers choose to pay the Living Wage on a voluntary basis.

The UK Living Wage is calculated by the Centre for Research in Social Policy. The London Living Wage is calculated by the Greater London Authority. The campaign for a living wage was started back in 2001 by a group of parents in East London, and more information can be found here.

The minimum wage is an amount that employers must pay and this is a legal obligation.

The minimum wage hourly rates (in UK pounds and pence), as at April 2013, are:

Aged 21 years and over: 6.19
Aged 18-20 years: 4.98
Under 18 years: 3.68
Apprentice: 2.65

The living wage hourly rates (in UK pounds and pence), as at April 2013, are:

London: 8.55
Elsewhere in UK: 7.45

The average salary in the UK at the moment, if I remember correctly, is said to be 26k per year. The 'elsewhere in UK' rate living wage, calculated at 7.45 per hour x 35 hours in a week x 52 weeks per year works out at an annual salary of 13,559. Nowhere near the national average which, if you ask me, is pretty crap.