• New Living Wage rates announced on Monday 15 November
• We’re launching Birmingham as a Living Wage City
• Celebrate 20 years of the Living Wage movement
  
  

 What is the Living Wage?

• The real Living Wage is independently calculated based on what employees and their families need to live. This is why it’s higher than the government minimum wage, rebranded as the ‘National Living Wage’.
• Employers voluntarily choose to pay it – changing people’s lives right now
• It applies to all workers over 18 – recognising that young people have the same living costs as everyone else
  
  

Why is it important to pay the Living Wage?

The past year’s pandemic has affected us all, but the poorest have been hit hardest. Nationally, two thirds of those earning below the Living Wage saw their pay fall last year, with devastating effects. More than a quarter of those earning below the real Living Wage were forced to regularly skip meals, while nearly half saw a negative impact on their levels of anxiety. Despite the pandemic shining a spotlight on the importance of low paid workers, over 5.5 million continue to earn less than the Living Wage.

The national campaign for a Real Living Wage has delivered more than £1.5bn in extra wages to workers since it began in 2001, lifting 260,000 people out of in-work poverty. The benefits to employers of paying the Living Wage are numerous: 93% of Living Wage network say it has benefited their business; 85% of Living Wage Employers say it has enhanced their reputation as an employer; 93% of graduates want to work for a Living Wage Employer.

Source: Living Wage Foundation

Join our movement to make Birmingham a Living Wage City

BVSC is a Living Wage Employer. Alongside our partners, including the Living Wage Foundation, Citizens UK, Birmingham City Council, Barrow Cadbury Trust and other Living Wage Employers and Funders, we’re launching Birmingham as a Living Wage City. We want to see people across the City benefiting from the Living Wage, and invite you to get involved.

Find out More

• Monday 15 November @1pm – we’ll be introducing Living Wage Funders at our Business Development and Funding webinar. Register for FREE at https://www.bvsc.org/Event/business-development-and-funding-weekly-lunchtime-webinar
•  Wednesday 17 November @1pm – our Employment & Skills webinar will be talking more about the Living Wage and why it is important. Register for FREE at https://www.bvsc.org/Event/employment-skills-weekly-webinars
•  Want to get involved? Contact [email protected]
•  Visit livingwage.org.uk for more info