LIVING WAGE

Recent pronouncements have called for us all to be paid a living wage, and although the intended aims are admirable, just how do you calculate a ‘living wage’?

Based on an average working week, at the intended living wage of £9 per hour, someone would have income of approx. £250 per week, after tax, to cover everything. On the surface, this might seem like a lot, but not when taking into account all of the basic necessities of life.

I’m extravagant by nature but frugal by necessity. In addition to, thankfully, a modest mortgage, my regular monthly expenses include such other items as house insurance, heat, light, water, car insurance, car tax, MOT, council tax, prescriptions, parking, RAC membership, ‘phone, petrol, TV license… the list is endless. This of course makes no allowance for clothes, food, necessities such a toilet rolls and household cleaning materials, the odd holiday break, household repairs and maintenance. I’m lucky, or unlucky, depending on which way you look at it, to have no dependents or pets, and am in reasonably good health.

For many, whilst it would allow a basic standard of living, there would be little leeway for emergencies, or to replace items such as furniture etc.

I am able to manage because I have several jobs, and have the capacity to take on extra work to make up any shortfall to provide life’s little luxuries, meals out, birthday gifts etc., and were I able to get out and about without the car I’d be saving a fortune.

The real issue though is not so much about ensuring a living wage but paying people for the skills and expertise required to perform a job well. The sad reality is that many employers now do not indicate a wage when advertising a vacancy, preferring the catch all cop out, ‘salary negotiable’, for which read ‘I’ll pay you as little as I can get away with’. Until we value people for what they can do we will never achieve the level of social equality that is much talked about.

Thankfully, public bodies are largely exempt from this approach, with fixed pay scales and a greater level of transparency, but until employers recognise the importance of treating employees as valuable assets a true ‘living wage’ will remain just a dream.

Ironically, there has been heated debate about the consequences of the anticipated influx of Bulgarians and Romanians in a week’s time, but you can bet there will be unscrupulous employers wiling to employ them for peanuts, whilst making their existing hard working staff redundant; and who will we blame? I have seen at first hand the hang ‘em and flog ‘em brigade at work on many occasions, particularly with many back office services outsourced to countries like India. In the end it is employers who are to blame, ensuring that their shareholders pockets remain well lined, and taking advantage of tax loopholes, whilst the rest of us struggle to make ends meet.