Sharp increase in workers earning ‘real living wage’

THE number of businesses offering residents a ‘real living wage’ in Barnsley has increased by more than 500 per cent in the last five years, the Chronicle can reveal.

The cost-of-living crisis has taken hold in the borough, which is already one of the country’s hardest-hit areas, and has left families with heartbreaking choices to make – such as to eat or heat their homes.

New figures show more employers in the town have signed up to the voluntary living wage scheme over the past year.

There are currently 13 businesses on the scheme – up 550 per cent from 2017 – which encourages employers to sign up to a ‘real’ living wage, which is higher than the minimum wage and pegged to living costs.

The rate, which is calculated by a group of economists and applies to employees aged 18 and over, is currently £9.90 per hour in Barnsley – though it is slightly higher in London.

In comparison, the government’s national living wage stands at just £9.18 for over 21s and £9.50 for residents aged 23 and over.

The latest estimates from the Bank of England suggest inflation could soon hit 13 per cent – putting residents under even further financial strain.

The Trades Union Congress, a federation made up of a number of workers’ groups from across the country, said this would result in an ‘unprecedented’ drop in pay in real terms – with wages expected to rise by just 5.3 per cent over the same period.

A spokesperson for the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said the government is determined to ‘make work pay’.

“We know the pressures people are facing with rising costs, which is why we have continually taken action to help households by phasing in £37bn worth of support,” a spokesperson added.

“In the long-term, we are committed to building a high skilled, high wage economy that delivers on our ambition to make the UK the best place in the world to work.”

Barnsley is deemed to be one of the hardest-hit areas and a town that is left vulnerable due to the cost-of-living crisis.

In a report compiled by think-tank Centre for Progressive Policy, it suggests the soaring costs of energy, fuel and food are set to drive a further wedge between more deprived communities in the north and those in affluent southern areas.

Barnsley ranks among the top ten per cent of England’s 333 local authorities based on six indicators of deprivation – including the percentage of households in fuel poverty and Universal Credit claimants – with more people at risk of being pulled into poverty.

One in three children in Barnsley live in poverty, according to the report, while 26.6 per cent of working-age people between 16 and 64 – slightly more than one in four – are not in employment or seeking employment and are therefore deemed ‘economically inactive’.

Food insecurity affects 14.8 per cent of adults, while 18.6 per cent of households suffer from fuel poverty.

In a bid to combat the continued rise in the cost of living, Barnsley’s councillors unanimously agreed to write to government ministers to express their concerns – and even declared a ‘cost-of-living emergency’.

Coun Richard Denton, who represents Darton East and put forward the motion alongside fellow Lib Dem councillor Will Fielding, said: “We are in the midst of a generational cost-of-living crisis that will disproportionately impact the most vulnerable in our society and we must act now.

“We must act here in Barnsley and central government must act in Westminster – as a local authority it’s vital that we all work together to press the government to take action.”