So there it is, another brilliant Living Wage Week has come and gone! We loved celebrating our network of Living Wage employers, highlighting the need for a real Living Wage, the difference it makes and encouraging new employers to join.
Thank you to everyone who took part up and down the country. Here are our favourite moments.
1. A record number of events!
Living Wage Week wouldn’t be Living Wage Week without a whole host of events up and down the country. We started the week with the “London Living Wage Summit” at the Barbican, shortly followed by a wonderful event at the Octagon in Bolton celebrating the Living Wage movement across Greater Manchester.
Over 1,000 people attended over 30 events up and down the country in total, hosted by the Living Wage Foundation, employers and external partners.
We celebrated existing employers, launched Living Wage places, and welcomed new employers to the movement.
See some of our favourite moments below.
2. Posters all over the country!
This week you might have spotted some of the brilliant Living Wage posters we’ve had across the country raising awareness of the real Living Wage. Thanks to some generous Living Wage employers, this year we had posters on the London underground, on motorways, across Greater Manchester and on the London Stadium. See some photos below!
3. St Antony’s RC Primary School powerful music video
To mark #LivingWageWeek, primary school pupils from St Antony’s school in Newham have teamed up with Hollywood producer Saloum N’jie to draw attention to the cost of living crisis and call for a real Living Wage Wage via their new music video ”look to the sky”. Check it out here and please share far and wide!
4. So many #LivingWageWindows
Living Wage Week always sees our network of employers getting creative with the Living Wage logo. This year we ran a #LivingWageWindow competition. See some of our favourites below.
5. We made the news!
We released two bits of research this week which were covered in national, regional and local broadcast and print media. Our report on jobs paid below the real Living Wage made it into the Independent and our research into the boost wider adoption of the real Living Wage would make to the economy made it into the Mirror, with our Director Katherine Chapman appearing on BBC News to talk about it!
6. We welcomed new employers to the Living Wage movement
Our movement is almost at 12,000 Living Wage Employers. What better time to join the Living Wage movement than now? Earning a real Living Wage has never been more important and this week we welcomed some brilliant new employers to the movement.
Congratulations to Anchor and Newcastle City Council on your Living Wage accreditation!
7. We highlighted the difference between the National Living Wage and the real Living Wage
Slap bang in the middle of Living Wage Week, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt made his delayed Autumn Statement, which included an increase to the government’s 'National Living Wage’ to £10.42. Welcome news for low-paid workers, but when it comes into force in April 2023 it will still fall £936 short of the real Living Wage for UK workers and £2983 for London workers. We made a noise about all the ways the ‘National Living Wage’ and the real Living Wage, the only wage rate based on the cost of living, differ.
8. We heard from workers
With living costs soaring, we heard from the people that the movement for a real Living Wage is all about; the workers themselves. We heard from dozens of workers at our events and on social media who told us what a difference being paid a wage that meets the cost of living makes to their lives. Watch Adam from Dear Green Coffee in Glasgow had to say.
9. We heard from employers
And of course we heard from our network of nearly 12,000 brilliant employers about why they’re doing the right thing and always paying a wage calculated based on living costs. Thank you so much for all your social media posts, blogs, videos and talks about why you continue to show leadership as part of the movement for a real Living Wage. Watch Katherine McAlpine, Director of The Brunel Museum talk about why they're proud to be a real Living Wage Employer and why this commitment is now more important than ever to help people meet rising costs.
10. Some famous faces supported the movement
Long-time supporter of the campaign money saving expert Martin Lewis sent a special message to Living Wage employers. Watch what he had to say below.
And that’s a wrap for another Living Wage Week! Thank you to our network of committed employers, the real Living Wage really is more important than ever. We can’t wait to see you next year for another brilliant week of celebration.
The Living Wage team