More jobs paying below living wage

The figure is now set at £9.15 an hour in London and £7.85 in the rest of the country.

The concept of a “living wage” created to cover the basic cost of living for United Kingdom employees is promoted by the Living Wage Foundation (LWF) and, for the capital, by the Mayor of London.

There are around 200 firms and more than 1,800 employers who have agreed to pay the national Living Wage including Barclays, RBS, Lidl and IKEA.

In real terms (after adjusting for inflation), the London Living Wage rose by 3% between 2008 and 2014 while median hourly pay for employees aged 18 and over in London fell by 10% in real terms.

Northern Ireland had the highest proportion of jobs below the living wage at 29%. The area with the fewest was Runnymede (8.5%).

The number of jobs that pay below the Living Wage is on the rise, the latest statistics from the United Kingdom employment market show.

Manchester had the lowest proportion of jobs paid less than the living wage, at 17.2pc of all jobs – 57,000 roles.

A spokesman said: “Despite significant progress in many sectors, more jobs than ever are below the voluntary Living Wage rates that we recommend”.

“The best employers are not waiting for government to act”.

In 2014, 48% of employee jobs in the 18 to 24 age group in London and 58% of jobs in this age group in the rest of the United Kingdom were paid less than the living wage.

North west regional secretary Lynn Collins told the M.E.N: “Everybody deserves a fair day’s pay for an honest day’s work”.

Across the United Kingdom in 2014, there were about 6 million jobs paying less than the Living Wage, of which over half were part-time jobs.

“It’s particularly shocking that so many more women than men are denied the Living Wage”.

So a minimum wage worker would need to clock 94.2 hours a week to make roughly as much as a person spending 40 hours per week on the job at $19.76 an hour.

Trades Union Congress bosses say extending the minimum payment to all workers is “a vital step towards tackling the growing problem of in-work poverty across Britain”.

The awards recognise Living Wage accredited employers that have made great contributions to their communities and industries by implementing and promoting the Living Wage both within their own companies and amongst their wider business networks.

But in July chancellor George Osborne also unveiled his own National Living Wage, more than the current minimum wage but below the living wage as defined by experts and campaigners.

The figures come as the Conservative government presses ahead with controversial plans to cut working tax credits, which top up the wages of the low-paid.

Youngsters are even more likely to be badly paid than women, this morning’s figures show.