Living Wage Calculating the Real Living Wage for London and the rest of the UK: 2023 24 October 2023 Nye Cominetti Louise Murphy This report sets out the method through which the Living Wage (LW) rates – a voluntary hourly pay rate that is based on what families need to get by – in London and the rest of the UK are calculated by the Resolution Foundation, and overseen by the Living Wage Commission on behalf of the Living Wage Foundation. These rates provide a benchmark for employers that voluntarily commit to go further than paying Government-set minimum wages, ensuring their staff earn a wage that they can live on. We detail the sources underpinning the calculations which are based on the best available evidence about living standards and costs, and how these and other inputs to the calculation have changed since last year. Although the headline rate of inflation is now falling, the context for this year’s rates is still the cost of living crisis that has gripped the UK for the past two years. The current rate of inflation – 6.7 per cent in September 2023 – is still higher than at any point since 1992, outside of the even more elevated rates of the past 12 months. The UK Living Wage for 2023-24 is £12.00. The London Living Wage for 2023-24 is £13.15.
