I’ll set a real London living wage at £14 an hour from 2022

When I’m Mayor, I’m going to make sure the London Living Wage is set at the right level – at least £14 an hour from 2022.

For millions of Londoners, work simply doesn’t pay, with eye-watering rates of working poverty and people forced to work for a wage which simply doesn’t cover life’s basic necessities. Many of these people are the key workers who keep our city going.

Currently the Government’s Living Wage is set at £8.72 while the Living Wage Foundation calculates that a London Living Wage ought to be set at £10.85. In 2022-23, these wages are projected to be set at £9.02 and £11.10 respectively. 

The higher rate for the Green London Living Wage, compared with all other previous rates, is because we are making a more realistic estimate of housing costs, since most families now rent in London, and because we take into account the need for a savings buffer for unexpected costs.

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The old method of calculating the London Living Wage used to have this ‘rainy day’ buffer, but it was removed from the calculations in 2016 without explanation.

When the Living Wage Unit first calculated the LLW in 2005, after Green Assembly Members made it a condition of their budget agreement with the Mayor, the report said:

“A ‘living wage’ must include a reliable margin such that the person receiving it will not fall into poverty. For that purpose a margin of 15 per cent has been added to the poverty threshold wage.”

I’m proud we have looked at the reality of people’s lives and put together a methodology which offers a fresh start for fair wages.

My Green London Living Wage will pay Londoners enough to put a roof over their heads, food on the table, and money for a rainy day.

As soon as this rate is set, I’ll pay everyone employed by the GLA this rate at a minimum, and I’ll work across London to make more employers accredited with this Living Wage, for workers and apprentices of all ages.