Business and Economy

Mayor: London Living Wage Now 7.00 Pounds

Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, today unveiled figures showing this year’s Living Wage for London to be £7.05 an hour, significantly above the national minimum wage of £5.05 an hour.

According to the Mayor’s Living Wage Unit approximately one in seven of London employees receive less than £6.15 per hour and are effectively living on poverty level wages - even when benefits are taken into account.

Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, said “Low paid workers in London have been affected by inflation and particularly the high gas and electricity price rises.”

“This year the calculation shows that the Living Wage in London has risen to £7.05, a figure that accurately reflects the needs of Londoners living on poverty wages”

The difference between the national minimum wage and the London figure is largely accounted for by the higher cost of housing in London.

Mick Connolly, Regional Secretary, Southern and Eastern Regional Council said the organisation “very much welcome the Mayor’s commitment to enforcing living wages through public contracts awarded by the Greater London Authority and we would urge other local authorities and public bodies to do likewise”.