Wales TUC calls for action on low pay as figures show over a fifth of Welsh employees earn less than a living wage

More than one in five employees in Wales are paid below the real living wage rate, new figures shared by the Wales TUC reveal today.

The Real Living Wage rate, set by the Living Wage Foundation, was increased to £9.30 per hour last week. Unlike the UK Government’s National Living Wage, the Real Living Wage is calculated based on people’s real day-to-day expenses.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show 268,000 employees in Wales are paid below the Real Living Wage rate. This figure represents 22.6% of all jobs in the country – higher than the UK rate of 20.1%.

But in some constituencies the proportion of people who are not earning enough to get by is much higher. The areas with the highest percentage of employees below the benchmark are:

Dwyfor Meirionnydd	39.2
Gower	36.6
Clwyd South	33.7
Cardiff West	30.3
Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire	30.3
Blaenau Gwent	30.2

Ahead of UK general election, the Wales TUC is calling for urgent action.

Joe Allen, Wales TUC Policy Officer said: “These numbers show that for too many people low pay is a problem that isn’t going away.

“The impact on workers is clear for all to see. We’ve seen the dramatic growth in food bank use and a sharp rise in household debt”

“For too long, the UK Government has failed to take action to get working people the pay rise that they deserve. We are calling for the immediate introduction of a £10 an hour minimum wage.

“We also know workplaces with union representation have higher pay. So we need new rights so that more workers can bargain through their unions for fair pay and conditions, in their workplaces and across industries.”