Living Wage @ Bangor Uni

WHAT IS A LIVING WAGE?

The Living Wage is the minimum hourly rate someone has to earn to afford everyday basics like housing, food, childcare, etc. It is based on an example of a typical couple working full time with two children in paid childcare. It assumes the couple have one pre-school child and another in primary school. Importantly it also assumes they get all the benefits and tax credits they are eligible for, including 80% of their childcare costs. Outside of London the current rate is £7.20. There is no perfect way to calculate a minimum but the Living Wage is enough to protect 90% of working age households. Outside of London the Living Wage is calculated by the Centre for Social Policy at Loughbourgh University. The Centre has developed a methodology to set and up rate a Living Wage outside London, based on its Minimum Income Standard Research.

The research is based on in-depth focus group discussions across the UK with people from different sections of society to discuss and agree what is needed for an adequate standard of living. They agreed the standard below which families should not fall below. Researchers then calculated how much this standard of living cost on average in the UK, using chain store prices. The headline figure was then adjusted to reflect the variations in housing costs around the UK. You can read more about how the Living Wage is calculated at www.minimumincomestandard.org

WHY SHOULD BANGOR UNIVERSITY INTRODUCE A LIVING WAGE?

If you work full time in our University or Student Union you ought not to be poor.

Low paid Staff often have to work long hours or work several jobs to make ends meet. This means they have to choose between living in poverty and spending less time with their families.

Research suggests that to provide the basics for a family of 2 children, someone working 40 hours a week would need to earn £8.30 an hour in London and £7.20 an hour elsewhere.

To earn enough to support their family at the National Minimum Wage someone would need to work 56 hours a week in London and 48 hours a week outside of London.

The University can pay a living wage if it chooses to. It is a question of priorities and whether it believes that paying its staff a decent wage is important. It would also cost the university very little; our research through FOI requests suggest it would cost £2406 for directly employed staff, and contractors would be cost neutral, if the university made the Living Wage a condition before awarding its contracts.

One in five children currently grows up in poverty despite living in a family where their parent or parents work. This is nearly two million children, roughly double the number of children living in poverty in in-work families in 1979.

Paying the Living Wage will reduce poverty, household debt, stress and illness and improve family life for university staff.

It also means greater productivity and improved quality of service from more motivated staff. It is also more efficient for the university with staff staying in their jobs for longer, saving on the recruitment and training costs.

Paying the Living Wage is the right thing to do. Everyone should be able to afford what it costs to live and to bring up a family.