Advice NI backs Living Wage Week as region continues journey towards fair pay
More than 100 employers across Northern Ireland have committed to paying the Real Living Wage, benefiting over 4,200 workers.
Advice NI has thrown its support behind Living Wage Week, a key milestone in the business calendar which provides an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the Living Wage movement while ensuring momentum on the path to fair pay for all continues apace. The Real Living Wage – which is distinct from the government-set National Living Wage – is the only UK wage rate independently calculated based on the cost of living, with the aim of ensuring workers’ wages are sufficient to cover their everyday needs.
This year’s Living Wage Week, which runs until Sunday, November 10th, is a landmark one for workers across Northern Ireland. In June, Living Wage NI was launched by Advice NI, becoming the official regional partner for the UK-wide movement, and the first initiative in Northern Ireland dedicated to advocating for fair wages locally by supporting employers in their journey to Living Wage accreditation. Living Wage NI is supported by the Department for the Economy and the Living Wage Foundation.
Already more than 100 employers across the region have committed to paying the Real Living Wage, with more accrediting this year than ever before. With recent organisations to sign up including Invest NI, the USPCA, Enterprise North West, Mackle Pet Foods and Queen’s University, over 43,000 people in Northern Ireland currently work for real Living Wage employers.
Advice NI’s commitment to the Real Living Wage is long-established. The organisation signed up as a Living Wage employer in 2021, and the following year its policy manifesto called for the adoption of Community Wealth Building as a way of addressing poverty and climate change, calling for all government departments to become Real Living Wage employers.
Kevin Higgins, Head of Policy at Advice NI, added: “Advocating for the Real Living Wage is a crucial part of our role at Advice NI. We are here to support people and businesses through times of difficulty, and by providing fair and equitable pay to the working people of Northern Ireland, we will not only enable them to live their lives well, but we will also reduce the risk of people falling into financial difficulties in the first place.
“Equally, the benefits of paying the Real Living Wage to workers can be felt by employers too through improved recruitment, employee motivation and productivity. By signing up, businesses can forge wider societal change by encouraging other organisations to join the movement, and the team at Living Wage NI is on hand to support businesses large and small to gain their all-important accreditation.”
Last month (October), the Real Living Wage rate was increased from £12 per hour to £12.60 across the UK, reflecting the ongoing pressures on low paid workers as they continue to struggle with the impact of high prices. In Wednesday’s Autumn Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that the National Living Wage will rise to £12.21 starting next April. However, this new rate still falls short of the Living Wage Foundation’s latest figure of £12.60, the only UK wage rate based solely on the cost of living.
Mary McManus, Living Wage NI Regional Manager, said: ‘A rise in the National Living Wage is welcome, but this is still not sufficient to cover the financial demands workers across the country are facing in their everyday lives. This is especially pressing in Northern Ireland, where progress is being made, but one in five workers in NI are still paid below the Real Living Wage —the highest rate in the UK. This is why Living Wage Week is so crucial in providing us with an opportunity to celebrate our network of Living Wage employers and to call on more employers here to get behind this all-important movement. The benefits of paying the Real Living Wage extend far beyond the workforce. Employers across the UK who have supported the movement have reported improvements across the board, from recruitment and retention to reputation.
“We are certainly making progress in Northern Ireland and are thrilled to have surpassed the milestone of 100 accredited Living Wage Employers since Living Wage NI launched earlier this year, but it’s crucial that we keep the momentum up in order to close the gap with other regions.”
The Living Wage Movement has its origins with grassroots campaigners from East London. Back in 2001, a group came together to tackle in-work poverty with the aim of ensuring members of the workforce could live decent, fulfilling lives. A decade later, Citizens UK launched the Living Wage accreditation scheme for employers, and in the years since, more than 15,000 employers across the UK have signed up, delivering pay rises to more than 460,000 workers.
For more information on Living Wage Week please visit https://www.livingwage.org.uk/living-wage-week or to become an accredited real Living Wage employer, visit https://www.adviceni.net/campaigns-projects/living-wage-ni.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
About Living Wage NI: Living Wage NI is a regional initiative launched by Advice NI in partnership with the Living Wage Foundation and the Department for the Economy. The initiative aims to promote the real Living Wage and increase the number of accredited Living Wage employers across Northern Ireland.