Living Wage: 100 Fife employers now signed up to voluntary scheme

There are now 100 accredited employers in the Kingdom as of the start of July – up from 87 at the same point last year and 37 five years ago.

The Living Wage Foundation encourages employers to sign up to pay a "real" living wage, which is higher than the minimum wage and pegged to living costs.

The rate, which applies to employees aged 18 and over, currently stands at £9.90 per hour across the UK.

The Government's living wage stands at £9.50 per hour for people aged 23 and over, and £9.18 for over 21s.

The soaring cost of fuel, energy and food has put wages under the spotlight.

Workers in some industries have gone on strike this summer, asking for a better deal from their employers.

Katherine Chapman, director of the Living Wage Foundation, said the cost-of-living crisis has made increasing wages for the low-paid "more important than ever".

She said paying the living wage is not only "the right thing to do for struggling workers and families, but it’s also good for businesses, with employers benefitting from greater staff morale and productivity, and reduced staff absenteeism and turnover".

The foundation announced in May that 10,000 employers had signed up to the scheme – covering nearly 350,000 workers, or around 1 in 13 employees in the UK.

As of July 1, there were 10,765 organisations paying the real living wage across the UK, up from 8,107 in 2021 and 3,383 in 2017.

Researchers at Cardiff University estimate this has provided an extra £1.8bn to low-paid staff.

Across Scotland, there are 2,790 real living wage employers – up from 880 in 2017.

Despite this, many UK workers are still on low pay.

The Office for National Statistics estimated that in April 2021 nearly 300,000 employees were paid below the Government's living or minimum wage, excluding those furloughed at the time, with service workers particularly likely to suffer low pay.

Latest estimates from the Bank of England suggest inflation could hit 13% by the end of this year.