Beyond the bottom line: The challenges and opportunities of a living wage

Article

IPPR's major report asks what role public policy should play in supporting progress on the living wage, the campaign for which has exemplified the power of bottom-up organisation.

Eleven years after it was revived by a broad-based community campaign in East London, the living wage is now an established fixture of our national policy debate. Yet in some senses, living wages have generated more heat than light, and as the living wage concept begins to attract serious scrutiny, the time is ripe for a far more rigorous and informed discussion.

What is the role of public policy in supporting progress on the living wage? The living wage campaign exemplifies the power of bottom-up organisation, and this must remain at the heart of the living wage idea. Yet there is a clear role for public policy in supporting civil society.

Recommendations and proposals in this report focus on:

  • Encouraging living wage leadership within the public sector
  • Using the procurement power of national and local government to extend living wage coverage
  • Supporting the take-up of living wages among large private sector employers
  • Incentivising living wage coverage among small and medium-sized enterprises
  • Strengthening the living wage campaign

Related items

  1. Close-up Of Woman Sitting On Sofa Texting Message On Smartphone

    A better deal: Tackling the NEET crisis

    Around a million young people in the UK are now not in education, employment or training (NEET), the highest number for more than a decade.
  2. A diverse group of neighbours going on a group walk in a residential area, warpped up in warm coats

    From strangers to citizens: Membership and belonging in an age of migration

    Who should become a British citizen in an age of growing mobility and migration?
  3. The Scottish parliament building rises in the backdrop, foregrounded by a pond, trees and a lawn. Blue skies overhead

    Rebuilding Scotland's "New Politics": a constructive parliament to build trust in Scottish politics

    Political disillusionment is growing in Scotland, and policy is not delivering. MSPs who did not stand for re-election this year share how the parliament currently works and could be improved.