living wage

sweetilemon

Found out today under the governments new 'living wage' project the lowest grade workers pays are going up to 7.15ph designed to make it more worthwhile being in work than on benefits. Its a great idea in my opinion just wondered what everyones thought were.

Googlewhacker

how, I presume by a benefit to top up NMW presumably? If not it would be business suicide to stick NMW upto 7.15 in a year.

I am for the NMW and it is one of the few things Labour did that I agree with but it needs a staggered increase of the NMW if that is their aim.

Mudd14

£5.93 to £7.15? No chance! London always announce the living wage but nothing is ever done about it. Its just a figure.

sweetilemon

Its a scheme for participating councils and companies given as a wage rather than a benefit designed to make sure low grade workers are not in poverty.

Mudd14

What about those who want to actually work and are already on a wage below £7.15? Should they quit their job and then claim benefits just to get a higher wage? Its a joke.

sweetilemon

Yeah point taken but many people on benefits do stay on them as they would be worse off in a job so i see where the idea has come from.

DizzleUK

The lowest paid workers in the NHS earn (including this year's uplift coming in April) £7.12 per hour. On a 37.5 hour week, this means a take home pay of around £940 a month.

IMO this is just below what a single person living on their own would need to live on. If 2 people in a relationship were earning this amount each, they would probably get by if they were sensible with money.

Minimum wage is just crap, but I understand the strain companies are under each time it is raised.

SandC

At 37.5 hours per week it's just under £14k.

The problem, as has crept in since NMW came into play, is the gap between the lowest level jobs and the next 'rung' up is ever closing. It starts to become not worth someone's while to study more, work more, aspire more to a higher level because the company they work for would not be able to afford to pay them what the job is really worth.

I don't see this as being something that will be statutory, ie NMW will change. I see it as this government passing the onus onto businesses instead of sorting it out themselves.

lisa.T_2

I work for the nhs and I don't get £7.15!

DizzleUK

lisa.T wrote: »

I work for the nhs and I don't get £7.15!

If you are on the lowest rung (either a Band 1 or Band 2 post on the first increment) then the annual wage is currently £13,653 which works out at £6.98ph. After this Friday that will be £13,903 which works out at around £7.12ph (not quite £7.15 but close enough).

evespikey

DizzleUK wrote: »

The lowest paid workers in the NHS earn (including this year's uplift coming in April) £7.12 per hour. On a 37.5 hour week, this means a take home pay of around £940 a month.

IMO this is just below what a single person living on their own would need to live on. If 2 people in a relationship were earning this amount each, they would probably get by if they were sensible with money

Sorry but that's just not the case. I won't speak for London but for a single person with no dependants, if an average studio flat is approx £500 a month, add your bills, food, council tax and travel then yes, 940 a month is enough to live on for one person. It might not seem like much, and it isn't, but you can live off it- no question. Especially if you're moneysaving.

If a couple was earning this ammount each, they're be very comfortably living. They wouldn't be rich. But they could pay all their bills and have enough for entertainment and a little saving without worrying about debt.

I think it would say a lot about a person's lifestyle and their (in)ability to budget if a couple couldn't live of that kind of money per month.