Reasons Revisited

Reasons Revisited: The Living Wage

Reasons Revisited

Show Notes

The national living wage is going up to at least £11 an hour from next April. Although it's claimed the rise will help two million of the lowest paid workers, many campaigners are saying it's still not enough for a decent standard of living in the current economic climate. The Real Living Wage is one alternative. It's a voluntary commitment from employers to pay their workers enough to meet their everyday needs, and unlike the government's living wage it's calculated according to the actual cost of living. We spoke to Sheila Blackburn and Margaret Beckett MP in 2021 about the history of the fight for a government-set minimum wage. We also spoke to Lola McEvoy back in 2019 and Gavin Kelly about the Real Living Wage and why the campaign has been so successful to date.

Guests Dr Sheila Blackburn, Historian, University of Liverpool Margaret Beckett MP, Former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1995-1997) Gavin Kelly, Chair of the Living Wage Commission (@GavinJKelly1) Lola McEvoy, Formerly of the Living Wage Foundation (@Lola__McEvoy)

More Information Listen to RTBC 78 Living wage against the machine (March 2019) Listen to RTBC 221 First they ignore you : Part four - the fight for a minimum wage (Dec 2021)

Learn more about the Living Wage Foundation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More from Reasons Revisited

Jul 22, 2024

In its first King's Speech, the Labour government said that "greater devolution of decision making is at the heart of a modern dynamic economy and is a key driver of economic growth."

Jul 12, 2024

Ed has departed for government, and Geoff is left as custodian of the archive. As the Labour government makes its first raft of announcements and appointments, we delve into our back catalogue to find the ideas which might have influenced them.

May 28, 2024

The day is upon us. Maybe. In the words of the late Teddy Kennedy (uncle of Robert F. Junior, and real-life inspiration for Kendall Roy):

May 26, 2024

We're giving you an extra 24 hours to don a black armband and stock up on Kleenex, as the Chatteroo approaches its final destination. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 19, 2024

From Highland Park, Illinois, we're joined by our cicada correspondent, who's keeping watch for the first dual emergence in 221 years. Plus, we find out more about this phenomenon with entomologist Professor Dave Bilton.

See all episodes →