441,950 East of England residents in employment earning less than a real living wage

Living Wage

441,950 East of England residents in employment earned less than real living wage of £9 per hour in year to April 2018 new GMB study shows

There is a very high proportion of working families struggling to make ends meet every day. Policies need to take this into account, says GMB London

There were a total of 441,950 residents in the East of England in employment earning less than a real living wage of £9 per hour in the year to end April 2018. This is 18% of all East of England residents in employment. Some 68% of the residents in jobs paying less than a real living wage were in part time jobs.

This data is from a new study by GMB London of official data for earnings and hours published by the Office for National statistics. [See notes to editors for sources and definitions]

The median earnings for East of England residents in full time and part time employment in the year to end April 2018 was £13.39 per hour.

The area with the highest number of residents in jobs earning less than a real living wage of £9 per hour, as set by the Living Wage Foundation, is Peterborough which has 25,200. That is 30% of jobs in the area earning less than a living wage. 35% of those part-time workers.

Next in the table was Colchester, who have a 18,750 residents earning less than a living wage, which is 25% of jobs, 55% of which were part time jobs. Next is Ipswich which has 18,000 residents earning less than £9 per hour, which is 30% of all jobs, with 42% of those part-time jobs. Then Huntingdonshire, which has 17,000 residents not earning a living wage (20% of jobs, 47% of which are part-time); King’s Lynn and West Norfolk which has 16,500 (30% of jobs, 41% of which are part-time), Norwich with 16,500 (30% of jobs, 39% of which are part-time); and Luton with 16,000 (20% of jobs, 58% of which are part-time workers).

Set out in the table below is the full analysis for residents of 47 areas in the East of England in employment by GMB London of official data in the 2018 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings published Office of National Statistics (ONS). The figures do not include the self-employed. [See notes to editors for sources and definitions]

Warren Kenny, GMB London Regional Secretary:

 “The figures show that there were 441,950 East of England residents in jobs that paid below a living wage of £9 per hour in the year to April 2018. This is 18% of all East of England residents in jobs. Some 68% of these residents in jobs were in part time employment.

“There is a very high proportion of working families struggling to make ends meet every day. Policies need to take this into account. Here is a range of changes required:

“On support, these families are dependent on housing benefits. They are adversely affected by the cuts to working families tax credits as it transitions to the universal credit system. The cuts should be reversed. 

“On new homes planned, the majority must be for rent as affordable social housing.

“On energy, the Office for Budget responsibility says that by 2022 subsidies to be paid to investors for low or zero carbon energy sources by households will amount to £10 per household per week. This is grossly unfair for these lower paid households. The subsidies should be paid for out of general taxation.

“Contractors of outsourced public sector jobs should be required to offer a living wage to all workers doing these jobs. 

“The law allows employers impunity to deny the legal rights of lower paid workers to combine into trades unions to force collective bargaining to get a better deal at work. This is perverse and should be changed. 

“GMB London call for real change to improve the upstairs downstairs labour market in the East of England.”

ENDS

Contact: Vaughan West 07967 342197 or Shaun Graham 07885 706556 or GMB London Press Office 07970 114762

Note to Editors