The Real Living Wage enables a person to have a minimum acceptable standard of living with less reliance on benefits, and is calculated annually according to the cost of living in the UK.
The Real Living Wage is currently £9.50 per hour.
Watch a video about the Real Living Wage in Cambridge
Living Wage Week 2020 took place from 9 to 15 November. We held an event to explore how businesses can help support people in poverty who are under more pressure because of coronavirus.
Cambridge City Council pays the Real Living Wage to all directly employed staff, as well as to agency workers. We also commit to paying the Real Living Wage to all contracted staff engaged through our procurement processes. In November 2014 the city council received official accreditation from the Living Wage Foundation.
We are now working to encourage and support other businesses in Cambridge to become accredited Real Living Wage employers.
There are now around 75 accredited Real Living Wage employers in Cambridge.
Case study: Abbeyfield care provider supports the Real Living Wage.
Benefits of the Real Living Wage
We believe that the Real Living Wage is:
Good for business
- Reduction in staff turnover and sickness rates
- Less absenteeism
- Improved staff morale and productivity
- Better retention of staff
- Recruitment of committed staff
- Reputation as an ethical employer
Good for the worker
- Workers are able to provide properly for themselves and their family
- They are less reliant on benefits
- They don’t have to work excessive hours
- They have more time for their family
Good for Cambridge
- More money is spent locally
- Cambridge has a high-quality, better paid workforce
Get help with becoming a Real Living Wage employer
Are you based in Cambridge? Are you interested in becoming a Real Living Wage employer?
Our Equality and Anti-poverty Officer can:
- answer your general queries about the Real Living Wage
- identify particular benefits accreditation might have for your business
- support you in applying for accreditation
- help you to work through the implications of applying the Real Living Wage to contracted and subcontracted staff
National Minimum Wage
A National Minimum Wage rate of £8.21 per hour applies for workers aged over 25.
The government has called this a ‘national living wage’, but it is quite separate from the Real Living Wage of £9.50 per hour accredited by the Living Wage Foundation.
The Real Living Wage is calculated according to the cost of living – what people need for an acceptable, basic standard of living. It’s a rate that employers choose to pay voluntarily to go beyond the statutory minimum.
Guidance for employees
Do you have questions on how your change in income will impact on your benefits? Do you want support in budgeting? Do you have problems with your pay? If you would like help with any of these questions, contact Cambridge and District Citizens Advice Bureau. Phone 03448 487979 between 2 and 4pm, Monday to Friday.
Real Living Wage employers in Cambridge
Around 75 organisations who are based or operate in Cambridge are now accredited Real Living wage employers.
You can see all accredited employers in Cambridge on the Living Wage Foundation’s employer map.
- Abbeyfield Society (Brown’s Field House, Burdett House, Girton Green)
- Allia
- Anglia Ruskin Students’ Union
- Anglia Ruskin University
- Arcus Global
- Argyle Street Housing Cooperative
- ARM Ltd
- AstraZeneca
- Aviva
- Barclays
- BB+C Architects
- Cambridge and District Citizens Advice Bureau
- Cambridge BID
- Cambridge Building Society
- Cambridge City Council
- Cambridge Cyrenians
- Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum
- Cambridge Healthcare Research
- Cambridge Organic Food Company
- Cambridge Re-Use
- Cambridge University Students’ Union
- Cambridge Women’s Aid
- Co-operative Bank
- Coulson Building Group
- Cultivate Gardens
- Daily Bread
- Deloitte
- Elica Limited
- Emmaus Cambridge
- Endis
- Endomag
- Ernst & Young
- Featurespace
- Girton College
- Halifax
- HSBC
- Jimmy's
- Jubilee Centre
- KPMG
- Lloyds Banking Group
- Lush
- Majestic Wine
- Memorial Church Cambridge
- Minuteman Press
- Nationwide
- NatWest
- Oliver Bonas
- Outspoken! Delivery (now Zedify)
- Oxfam
- Pearson Publishing
- Pennington's Manches LLP
- PwC
- Queens' College
- Radmore Farm Shop
- RAND Europe
- RH Partnership Architects
- Richer Sounds
- Royal Bank of Scotland
- Rutherford’s
- Santander
- Savills
- Selwyn College
- Signet Apartments Ltd
- St Laurence Catholic Primary School
- Tailored Stays
- TSB
- Ubisense
- University of Cambridge
- Venner Shipley
- Westminster College
- Wintercomfort
- Workers' Educational Association
- Your Space Apartments
- Zero Waste Path Shop