TWENTY London churches at the moment are accredited as Living Wage Employers, the diocese has reported.
This week is designated as Living Wage Week, which the diocese has marked with a movie featuring contributions from the accredited parishes.
“We think it’s really vital that the people in our care, our staff, don’t worry about making ends meet,” the Vicar of St Paul’s, Hammersmith, the Revd Pete Wynter, says. The Vicar of St Mary, Islington, the Revd James Hughesdon, speaks of “putting our money where our theological mouth is”.
The Revd Josh Harris, Priest-in-Charge of St Katharine Cree, within the City of London, says: “For our congregation, which incorporates many who work within the cleansing and hospitality industries, dignified work and being paid an actual Living Wage is important.
“And so, for us to share the Good News of Jesus with them with integrity means committing to paying our own team no less than an actual Living Wage and visibly supporting the campaign.”
The film also features Laura Dow, an early-years employee at St Mary’s, who says that earning the Living Wage has helped her as a single mother.
Wilson Ayala, who chairs the cleaners’ branch of the union the Independent Workers of Great Britain, says that paying the Living Wage “could make the difference between living and surviving”.
The Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, co-chairs the campaign “Making London a Living Wage City”, launched in 2021 by Citizens UK and Trust for London. It reports that 575,000 jobs in London still pay lower than the true Living Wage. In the film, Bishop Mullally expresses hope that more churches will turn into accredited “so that they may be sure that the people of London are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve as people made within the image of God”.
The National Minimum Wage — the minimum per hour that employers must pay — was introduced in 1999 and applies throughout the UK. It is about by the Government on the recommendation of the Low Pay Commission. The National Living Wage, introduced in 2016, applies to all employees aged 21 and above. It is about at £12.21 per hour (equating to about £25,000 a 12 months for a 40-hour week).
The Living Wage (sometimes described because the “real” living wage) is calculated annually by the Resolution Foundation think tank and overseen by the Living Wage Foundation, a part of Citizens UK. It is predicated on the income mandatory for workers to afford a suitable way of life.
The latest figures are £13.45 an hour (a 6.7-per-cent increase on last 12 months) and £14.80 in London (a 6.9-per-cent increase). An additional 2500 latest accreditations over the past 12 months have taken the variety of Living Wage Employers to greater than 16,000. One in seven employees is now covered.
