Tag Archives: living wage

David Laws on the Liberal Democrat agenda for tackling low pay

By Mary Reid | Tue 18th June 2013 - 5:05 pm

Last Wednesday David Laws gave a speech at the Resolution Foundation on the Liberal Democrat agenda for tackling low pay.

He began by reflecting on the job market.

Many of us vividly remember the recession of the early 1980s, which destroyed so many jobs. There are still communities in our country which have failed to recover from that economic heart-attack. In contrast, the recent recession and the unusually slow recovery from it have been characterised by much better than expected employment outcomes. Instead of losing millions of jobs, we have been

…

Posted in News | Also tagged david laws | 5 Comments

Opinion: It’s time for Liberal Democrats to embrace the Living Wage

By Stephen Knight | Tue 20th November 2012 - 12:29 pm

Earlier this month was Living Wage Week which was the first ever UK-wide week devoted to highlighting the need for employees to receive a wage they can live on.

The week saw the campaign generate much publicity, starting with Boris Johnson announcing an increased rate of the London Living Wage to £8.55 an hour (compared to its national rate of £7.45) and Ed Milliband pledging to extend its implementation through Government contracts.

More Liberal Democrats need to learn why the campaign for greater take up of the Living Wage is so important. While we have praised those employers …

Posted in News | 19 Comments

Opinion: Taking minimum wage work out of tax would deliver the Living Wage

By Adam Corlett | Tue 6th November 2012 - 3:30 pm

With greater ambition, the Liberal Democrats’ policy of increasing the personal allowance would equalise the Living Wage and the minimum wage, without risking jobs.

It was announced yesterday that the national ‘Living Wage’ for 2013/14 will be £7.45. This compares to the National Minimum Wage of £6.19. Boris Johnson has urged more companies to adopt the Living Wage, and Labour are even considering giving tax incentives for firms to pay the Living Wage.

Few would argue with the benefits of higher pay for employees, or with other Living Wage benefits such as lower staff turnover. But evidently most employers …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged minimum wage | 15 Comments

The living wage is fine as far as it goes, but the Lib Dems can be bolder

By Nick Thornsby | Mon 5th November 2012 - 8:00 pm

There we have it. Miliband’s big idea: the living wage. Only it is not Miliband’s idea. And more to the point it is not a very big idea. In fact, it seems to me extraordinarily unambitious.

We presently have a system in which somebody earning the national minimum wage – which for most is not sufficient to live in any comfort even before tax – and working full time pays income tax at 20% on about a third of their salary, national insurance, VAT on the goods they buy, fuel duty and road tax on the car that gets them to …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged ed miliband | 16 Comments

Opinion: paying the Living Wage makes business sense, so what are you waiting for?

By Bharat Mehta | Fri 19th October 2012 - 10:52 am

The Living Wage is something that all the main political parties endorse. According to the Prime Minister it is an idea ‘whose time has come’; Nick Clegg is behind it; Ed Miliband praised it at the Labour conference; and Boris Johnson is a staunch supporter of the campaign. It is therefore unfortunate that, for an idea that enjoys such strong cross-party support, to date, the only local councils accredited as Living Wage employers are of one political colour – red.

Posted in Op-eds | 13 Comments

What’s the most effective way of ensuring fair wages for low earners?

By Prateek Buch | Fri 20th January 2012 - 3:27 pm

The question arises from James Graham’s excellent blog on how raising the personal income tax allowance, a central plank of Liberal Democrat influence in the Coalition, makes it more likely that large companies will pay fairer wages.

James was responding to Zoe Williams in the Guardian (well worth a read), who rightly highlights the negative societal impact of companies paying their employees wildly differing amounts – sky-high executive salaries at one end of the spectrum, and sub-living wages at the other that have to be topped up by complex and costly welfare spending.

Of late there has been …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged fair pay and james graham | 16 Comments

Opinion: the Liberal Democrats should support a Living Wage

By Sean McHale | Mon 28th February 2011 - 12:40 pm

The Living Wage is a term which has gained ground in mainstream politics over the past year or so. Ed Miliband has used it in attempts to forge his political identity. Boris Johnson has spokenof his support for the concept and would like to see it introduced in London and David Cameron has said it is an idea whose time has come.

According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, a salary of £14,400 is the minimum a single person needs for an acceptable standard of living. This figure includes not only the basics in life, but covers what …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged boris johnson, institute for fiscal studies and joseph rowntree foundation | 31 Comments

Nick: "Jobs are right at the heart of the Lib Dems’ agenda"

"Lib Dems set to name 7 new peers for House of Lords"

EU in/out referendum bill - will Lib Dem MPs abstain?

The Morrissey Report: "No excuses" says Caron Lindsay

Tag Archives: living wage

David Laws on the Liberal Democrat agenda for tackling low pay

Opinion: It’s time for Liberal Democrats to embrace the Living Wage

Opinion: Taking minimum wage work out of tax would deliver the Living Wage

The living wage is fine as far as it goes, but the Lib Dems can be bolder

Opinion: paying the Living Wage makes business sense, so what are you waiting for?

What’s the most effective way of ensuring fair wages for low earners?

Opinion: the Liberal Democrats should support a Living Wage

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Nick: "Jobs are right at the heart of the Lib Dems’ agenda"

"Lib Dems set to name 7 new peers for House of Lords"

EU in/out referendum bill - will Lib Dem MPs abstain?

The Morrissey Report: "No excuses" says Caron Lindsay

Tag Archives: living wage

David Laws on the Liberal Democrat agenda for tackling low pay

Opinion: It’s time for Liberal Democrats to embrace the Living Wage

Opinion: Taking minimum wage work out of tax would deliver the Living Wage

The living wage is fine as far as it goes, but the Lib Dems can be bolder

Opinion: paying the Living Wage makes business sense, so what are you waiting for?

What’s the most effective way of ensuring fair wages for low earners?

Opinion: the Liberal Democrats should support a Living Wage

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