Tags
business, employment, living wage, Mike Sivier, mikesivier, Nestle, people, Vox Political, work
The occasionally-controversial food giant Nestle has become the first major manufacturer to agree to pay the Living Wage to all of its staff, including all contractors.
Apparently it already pays the Living Wage to all 8,000 people who are directly employed by the company; now it is extending the policy to its 800 contractors – to be in place by the end of 2017.
This presents us with an opportunity. The Living Wage is set at £8.80 an hour in London and £7.65 an hour elsewhere in the UK – but does it live up to its label?
Vox Political wants to hear from anybody who receives the Living Wage. If you get it, does it allow you to pay your way without having to claim any state benefits at all, as intended?
Tell us your experiences, using the Comment column below.
Follow me on Twitter: @MidWalesMike
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
Vox Political needs your help!
This independent blog’s only funding comes from readers’ contributions.
Without YOUR help, we cannot keep going.
You can make a one-off donation here:
Alternatively, you can buy Vox Political books!
The second – Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first, Strong Words and Hard Times
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Mike Sivier's blog 
Pingback: Nestle to pay Living Wage to all contractors - ...
I think you comments need reading in conjunction with this:-
http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/minimum-income-standard-2014
This year’s research finds:
◾a lone parent with one child now needs to earn more than £27,100, up from £12,000 in 2008. A couple with two children need to earn more than £20,200 each, compared to £13,900 each in 2008. Single working-age people must now earn more than £16,200, up from £13,500 in 2008;
◾despite social and economic change, the list of goods and services is very similar to that of the original study in 2008, but people’s ability to afford them has declined. Overall the cost of a basket of essential items has risen by 28% over six years, while average wages have increased 9% and the minimum wage 14%;
◾increased tax allowances have eased the pressure somewhat for some households, but the freeze to child benefit and ongoing cuts in tax credits have outweighed this for low-earning families with children. Out-of-work benefits have fallen further and now provide 39% of what single, working-age people need to reach a Minimum Income Standard.
I’ve made an article out of this.
Yet the Tories are continually insinuating that people on social security are living the high life!
and they should know Norma, because what with their wages (paid by us) and their expenses for under pants and Horlicks (paid by us) they’re living the high life alright and laughing at us whilst they do it!
Reblogged this on sdbast.
it’s impossible to say what a living wage is as your rent/mortgage/ how many people making up the family unit maybe
the only true way of doing it is to not include your rent/mortgage and council tax
at least this way the sums are much simpler to deal with
i would say £1000 per month was reasonable for a family of 4 and know many people who live like this and find it acceptable but this figure does not include any holidays
I don’t reckon £1,000/month gets you anywhere.
it’s not a lot mike but some find it reasonable. sure it could be better so you could have a nice meal now and again or a trip to London for a show perhaps ?
No – so you could survive in a minimal way.
i have to mike like many others I’ve always been a saver for a rainy day i didn’t realize thou it was going rain so much over the years
if i had spent as i earned i would completely be at the mercy of the DWP and that’s never good
I didn’t mean you personally!
i know you didn’t mike it’s ok 🙂
Reblogged this on SMILING CARCASS'S TWO-PENNETH and commented:
My basic pay is below the quoted living wage, but with shift allowances and timekeeping bonuses I earn a substantial amount greater than the ‘living wage’.
However, I work in hot, dangerous and dirty conditions and I know employers will use the ‘living wage’ to pay less than they should by quoting ‘more than the living wage’ just as minimum wage has been used.
Let’s have some bargaining power with strong trade unions unencumbered by anti-trade union legislation.
I honestly believe when the minimum wage was introduced it should have been set at £10 an hour.
Minimum wage SHOULD BE A LIVING WAGE!