Member Article

42% in East Yorkshire ‘blackspot’ earn below the Living Wage - and the picture’s worse for women

East Yorkshire is among 10 UK “black spots” in which workers are earning less than the living wage the TUC has revealed.

TUC analysis of official figures from the House of Commons Library shows that nationally one in five jobs pays under the living wage – currently set at £9.15 in London and £7.85 across the rest of Britain.

42% of East Yorkshire workers are reportedly not being paid the livign wage by employers, the 6th worst spot in the country.

For working women the picture is even bleaker. Well over half of women working in East Yorkshire (58.7%) take home less than the living wage.

But in some parliamentary constituencies more than half of the people working there earn less than this.

Birmingham Northfield tops the list of living wage blackspots with 53.4% of people working there earning less than £7.85 an hour, followed by Kingswood near Bristol (51%) and Dwyfor Meirionnydd in north Wales (50.9 per cent).

In other parts of Britain a substantial number of workers also get paid less than the living wage – in Harrow West in north west London (48.9%), Chingford and Woodford Green in north east London (48.3%), Blackpool South (42.1%), South East Cornwall (40.2%), Heywood and Middleton in Greater Manchester (39.8 per cent) and Rhondda in south Wales (38.9%).

In some parts of the country – mostly in the South East – there are high paying areas where workers fare much better. In Poplar and Limehouse in East London just 7.5 per cent of people working there earn less than the living wage.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Extending the living wage is a vital step towards tackling the growing problem of in-work poverty across Britain.

“Working families have experienced the biggest squeeze on their living standards since Victorian times, and these living wage figures show that women are disproportionately affected. Pay has been squeezed at all levels below the boardroom, and the government’s mantra about ‘making work pay’ is completely out of touch with reality.

“The number of living wage employers is growing rapidly and unions are playing their part in encouraging more employers to sign up and pay it. But we need to see a far wider commitment to pay the living wage from government, employers and modern wages councils – to drive up productivity and set higher minimum rates in industries where employers can afford to pay their staff more.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .