Nearly half a million Brits to get 10% pay rise today

From today, the wage of nearly half a million UK workers will increase by 10 percent.

More than 460,000 Brits working for 14,000 employers will receive the pay rise to reflect the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Workers will now expect to receive £12 an hour outside London - a rise of £1.10 - and £13.15 an hour in the capital - a £1.20 increase.

Living Wage Foundation director Katherine Chapman said: “As inflation eases, we cannot forget that low-paid workers remain at the sharp end of the cost-of-living crisis.

“Low-paid workers continue to struggle with stubbornly high prices because they spend a larger share of their budget on food and energy.

“These new rates are a lifeline for the 460,000 workers who will get a pay rise.”

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea added: “This is good news for hundreds of thousands of low-paid workers whose employers do the right thing. That’s pay them a decent wage.”

Getty Stock Image

The change applies to employers who have signed up to the voluntary Real Living Wage scheme - set up by the Living Wage Foundation charity - and choose to pay a rate that is higher than the government-set minimum wage.

The voluntary rate also applies to everyone over the age of 18 and compares to the statutory National Living Wage for over-23s of £10.42 an hour.

This means that a full-time worker earning the new Real Living Wage will earn £3,081 a year more than someone on the current government minimum.

For those in London, this could mean an additional £5,323, the foundation says.

This comes after more than two in five low-paid workers say they regularly use a food bank and almost as many report falling behind on household bills.

Pexels

The Unison general secretary explained: “But many more providing essential public services will miss out. These employees include care workers, who’re often on poverty pay, in a sector already struggling to fill record vacancies.

“Today’s increase means thousands of workers employed by the NHS on the lowest pay bands - like porters, cleaners, domestics and security staff - will be significantly short of the new rate.

“The Government must follow suit and boost the minimum wage so millions are better able to weather the cost-of-living pressures causing such deep financial pain.”

Jo Mcmahon, a textile worker from Stockport, is among the hundreds of thousands of people who will benefit from the change.

She works for school uniform manufacturer One & All, who pays its workers at the higher 'Real Living Wage' rate.

"It means I've got money I can put away each month," she said. "It's just made such a difference."

"If the washing machine breaks, I've got the money for that. If we want a nice, big holiday, I can book it."