Employee Jobs Paid Below the Real Living Wage 2023

This is the twelfth annual update to the 'Employee jobs paid below the Living Wage' report, which uses published data from the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Annual Survey for Hours and Earnings (ASHE) to explore the scale of low pay in the UK. This report looks at the number and proportion of jobs paid below the real Living Wage in April 2023, when the real Living Wage rates were £11.95 in London and £10.90 across the rest of the UK. The rates are calculated annually by the Resolution Foundation based on a social consensus of what people need for a decent standard of living and to participate fully in society.

Our analysis finds that:

• 12.9 per cent of employee jobs in the UK (3.7 million jobs) were paid below the Living Wage in April 2023 – a small increase from 12.3 per cent (3.5 million jobs) in April 2022. Despite increasing since 2022, both figures remain low by historical standards. 
• The region with the highest proportion of jobs paid below the Living Wage was the North East (15.9 per cent), followed by the East Midlands (15.7 per cent) and Northern Ireland (15.6 per cent). This is broadly consistent with data collected in 2022, with the North East and Northern Ireland featuring in the top three areas with the highest incidence of low paid jobs in both years. 
• The regions with the lowest proportion of low paid jobs were the South East and Scotland (10.1 per cent respectively), the South West (11.8 per cent) and the East of England (12 per cent).  These were also the four regions with the lowest proportion of low paid jobs in 2022. 
• 15.4 per cent of jobs held by women were paid below the Living Wage, compared to 10.4 per cent of jobs held by men. The gap had narrowed since 2012 but widened slightly between 2022 and 2023. Jobs held by women also accounted for 59.5 per cent of all jobs paid below the Living Wage, 2.2 million in total. 
• A higher proportion of part-time jobs (28.3 per cent) were paid below the Living Wage in April 2023 than full-time jobs (7.5 per cent). This gap has narrowed over the last decade, but increased slightly between 2022 and 2023. 
• The hospitality sector (‘Accommodation and food services’) had the highest proportion of jobs paid below the Living Wage in April 2023 (48.1 per cent). This is the 12th consecutive year that hospitality has been the sector with the highest proportion of low paid jobs. Other sectors with above average levels of low pay in 2023 include ‘Arts, entertainment and recreation’ (24.7 per cent), and ‘Wholesale and retail trade’ (23.2 per cent). 
• The sector with the highest number of below Living Wage jobs is the Wholesale and retail sector, with 818,000 low paid jobs in 2023.