Thousands of key workers in West Sussex earn less than a ‘living wage’, data shows

Thousands of employees in West Sussex, including key workers considered critical to the coronavirus crisis response, are earning below the so-called ‘real living wage’, data suggests.

An estimated 59,000 workers in the county earn less than the real living wage, according to figures from the BBC Shared Data Unit.

These include hospital cleaners, porters, carers and others classed as key workers during the coronavirus crisis.

The GMB union said the pandemic had shone a light on the ‘rock-bottom pay’ of the people ‘expected to risk their health to protect us’.

The real living wage is calculated by the Living Wage Foundation, which argues that the government’s National Living Wage is not high enough to meet workers’ needs. Based on costs such as food, clothing and household bills, it currently stands at £9.30 an hour for those working outside London. It is separate to the statutory National Living Wage – the legally-binding hourly rate for workers aged 25 and over – which was raised to £8.72 an hour from April 1.

In Arun, an estimated 27.9 per cent of workers were paid below the Real Living Wage in 2019 – around 9,000 people in total, according to the figures.

Adur and Worthing have the second highest percentage of employees earning below £9.30 an hour – at 18.7 per cent and 18.9 per cent respectively – while the figures are similarly high in Mid Sussex, at 18.2 per cent, and Crawley at 17.4 per cent.

Fewer workers in Chichester and Horsham earn below the Real Living Wage, at 14.8 per cent and 14.3 respectively.

Jobs most likely to be paid below the Real Living Wage include shelf fillers (91.8 per cent), retail cashiers and check out operators (74.9 per cent), cleaners (73.7 per cent) and pharmacy assistants (72.9 per cent). Others include hospital porters (48.7 per cent), refuse collectors (28.5 per cent) and ambulance staff – excluding paramedics (19.6 per cent).

Lola McEvoy, GMB union organiser, called for key workers’ wages to be raised, adding: “It’s simply wrong that over three million of the most vital jobs in our society pay so little that those doing them live with the compounding stress of falling behind with rent and spiralling into debt.”

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: “It is right we ensure the lowest paid are fairly rewarded for their contribution to the economy, particularly those working in essential services during the biggest threat this country has faced in decades.

“This year’s increase to the National Living Wage means we will be putting an extra £930 a year into the pockets of 2.4 million of the UK’s lowest paid workers.”

Hospital cleaners are among those classed as key workers during the crisis