Over a quarter of workers in East Midlands paid less than Living Wage

The East Midlands is tops a new list for the highest proportion of jobs earning below the Living Wage.

The region in joint top with Northern Ireland, with over a quarter (26 per cent) of people across the East Midlands earning less than £8.75 per hour, according to new anaylsis by KPMG. By contrast, the South East has the lowest proportion, at only 18 per cent.

UK-wide, over a fifth (22 per cent) of UK jobs currently pay below the real Living Wage, which represents an increase of 1.2 million jobs since 2012.

Last year’s report saw the number of jobs paying below the Living Wage slightly down on the preceding year, hinting at some progress. However, the latest analysis conducted by IHS Markit for KPMG finds that the proportion of jobs paying less than the Living Wage now stands at 22 per cent (up from 21 per cent in 2017).

Regional overview of proportion of employees earning less than the real Living Wage in 2018:

Meanwhile, part-time workers are more than three times as likely to be paid below the Living Wage, with 43 per cent below the threshold compared to only 13 per cent of full-time workers.

The analysis also reveals that nearly seven in ten workers aged between 18 and 21 earned below the threshold, compared to the lowest proportion of only 15 per cent among those aged 40 – 49. The prevalence of in-work poverty increased again once approaching retirement age, with a quarter (25%) of those 60+ facing in-work poverty.

Looking to gender equality, the proportion of female employees earning less than the real Living Wage (27 per cent) continues to exceed that for males (17 per cent). This means that nearly 60 per cent more women were paid below the real Living Wage, compared to men. Furthermore, in every age category, the proportion of females earning less than the threshold exceeded the percentage of males, with the greatest gap noted among those 50 – 59 years of age.

Ian Borley, East Midlands senior partner at KPMG UK, said: “The latest real Living Wage analysis makes for very dire reading on all counts. The fact that over a quarter of East Midlands jobs are currently paying less than the real living wage is a real concern that must be addressed.

“It’s critical that we reward and value those making a contribution to our society and economy, and clearly such a sizeable challenge requires a collective approach. For businesses though, it’s vital to look beyond the bottom line, and instead focus on non-monetary aspects that the real Living Wage can bring, like improved staff morale, rising service standards or increased productivity.”