It’s not right so many North West workers struggle to feed their families, says TUC

Commenting on today’s (Monday) Living Wage Foundation figures which show that 602,000 workers (21%) in the North West are earning under the real Living Wage, North West TUC Regional Secretary Lynn Collins said:

“People who work for a living ought to earn a decent living.

“It’s not right that so many people here in the North West don’t earn enough to cover basic living costs like food for their families or money for rent and bills.

“And many of those struggling to get by will be the key workers getting us through this crisis – such as carers, supermarket staff and delivery drivers.

“The prime minister promised to ‘level up’ Britain. Ministers must start by working with unions to ‘level up’ pay and conditions across the country, including here in the North West”

The analysis found that women are more likely to be paid below the Real Living Wage than men, with 25% of women in the region paid below the rate, compared to 18% of men.

Overall, part-time workers are worst affected, with 38% paid below the RLW, including 41% of men working part-time men.

Wyre local authority is the 3rd worst affected local authority in the entire country, with 41% of workers paid below the Real Living Wage. Pendle and Blackpool are 16th and 17th 35% of workers paid below the rate.

Nationally, the Foundation revealed that as many as 5.5 million workers are living below the real Living Wage. The new rates have been announced, with the UK rate at £9.50 and London at £10.85.