Sian Berry will set a Green London Living Wage at £14 an hour for workers and apprentices of all ages if elected as the Mayor of London.
The higher rate for the Green London Living Wage compared with all other previous suggestions is because we are making a more realistic estimate of housing costs, since most families now rent in London, and the need for a savings buffer for resilience against falling into poverty through unexpected costs.
The pandemic has exposed how few savings people have to rely on during hard times. The old method of calculating the London Living Wage used to have a ‘rainy day’ buffer, but it was removed from the calculations in 2016 without explanation.
Currently the Government’s Living Wage is set at £8.72 while the Living Wage Foundation calculates that a London Living Wage ought to be set at £10.85. In 2022-23, these hourly rates are projected to be set at £9.02 and £11.10 respectively.
The Green London Living Wage would give Londoners an extra £2.90 an hour in 2022 at a rate of £14.00.
As Mayor, Sian will pay all GLA employees at this rate at minimum, and work across London to bring as many employers into accreditation as Living Wage employers, including those offering apprenticeships.
In 2018/19, over half of people 16 years old or older who were living in poverty were employed. And according to the Living Wage Foundation, 19.5% of Londoners were earning less than their accredited Living Wage in April 2020.
Greens were instrumental in the first ever London Living Wage published in 2005, when Green AMs Darren Johnson and Jenny Jones made it a condition of their supporting Mayor Livingstone’s budget following the 2004 election, without whose votes the budget could have been defeated.
Sian Berry AM, Green Party candidate for Mayor of London, said:
“Even the higher London Living Wage just isn’t keeping up with the real cost of living and does not help families build resilience against poverty caused by unexpected events.
“For millions of Londoners, work simply doesn’t pay, with eye-watering rates of working poverty and huge numbers of people taking home a wage which doesn’t cover life’s basic necessities. Many of these people are the key workers who keep our city going.
“I’m proud to have come up with a methodology which offers a fresh start for fair wages. My Green London Living Wage will pay Londoners enough to put a roof over their heads, food on the table, and money for a rainy day”
