Why the Living Wage Matters
The Real Living Wage is the only wage based on the cost of living. As prices continue to rise, from heating bills to food, it’s never been more important that employers commit to a Living Wage and free workers from the trap of in-work poverty. The Governments's real living wage (which is the legal minimum employers have to pay) still doesn’t go far enough and on average leaves a worker about £1k short compared to someone earning the Real Living Wage.
As well as being the right thing to do, there are business benefits too. In the past two years since accrediting, we have almost doubled as an organisation meaning we can do so much more for Derbyshire’s wildlife. We’ve also seen an increase in applications from a much more diverse range of people, which supports us with creativity and innovation to help solve the issues nature faces. We’ve seen a reduction in voluntary turnover and supported in developing green skills for the future.
Some of the facts about work poverty are stark:
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42% of workers earning below the real living wage have less than £10 left after paying for their essentials.
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2 in 5 workers earning below the real Living Wage used food banks in the past year.
Our Living Wage Journey and the Impact it's Made
We believe our workers deserve a wage that meets their everyday needs and that’s why in 2022 we made the decision to pay the Real Living Wage. We took this commitment the extra mile and pay all trainees and apprentices a Real living Wage regardless of age or experience. Unfortunately, there are barriers in place to accessing work in our sector and we don’t want pay to be one of those! Our work on the real living wage has been part of a holistic process focussing on people and culture ensuring our staff have a great experience at work, allowing them to focus on delivering our vision for a Wilder Derbyshire.
One of our Early Talent participants said ‘ Moving onto a salary is actually quite a change for me, as a lot of my previous employment has been pro-rata, so being able to depend on a regular monthly income has been welcome. The main impact so far is that I have been able to budget money to save and invest each month. I am currently trying to save for a house, so this has been important for me.’
