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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/30/real-living-wage-north-east-bishop-durham-paul-butler
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| What would Jesus do? Pay workers a living wage | What would Jesus do? Pay workers a living wage |
| (6 months later) | |
| Every person is valuable. Hugely valuable because we are made in God’s image and loved so deeply that Jesus died for us. Increasingly, employers are realising that we humans seek to discover our value through healthy work as part of fulfilled lives. A happy workforce is a productive one. So they are investing in office spaces with soft furnishings, meditation sessions, flexible-working options and even pet office dogs, all seeking to keep workers happy. | Every person is valuable. Hugely valuable because we are made in God’s image and loved so deeply that Jesus died for us. Increasingly, employers are realising that we humans seek to discover our value through healthy work as part of fulfilled lives. A happy workforce is a productive one. So they are investing in office spaces with soft furnishings, meditation sessions, flexible-working options and even pet office dogs, all seeking to keep workers happy. |
| Yet as companies get multimillion-pound makeovers, a large body of UK workers face multiple pressures – insufficient pay to meet living costs, unpaid overtime, working through lunch breaks, and the uncertainty of the gig economy and zero-hours contracts. Perks for average and high earners are a world away from the experience of the estimated 5.5 million workers paid under a real living wage, based on the cost of living. These individuals and families are often too exhausted to participate fully in society and our communities. | Yet as companies get multimillion-pound makeovers, a large body of UK workers face multiple pressures – insufficient pay to meet living costs, unpaid overtime, working through lunch breaks, and the uncertainty of the gig economy and zero-hours contracts. Perks for average and high earners are a world away from the experience of the estimated 5.5 million workers paid under a real living wage, based on the cost of living. These individuals and families are often too exhausted to participate fully in society and our communities. |
| Even with a welcome increase to the government’s minimum wage due on 1 April, too many people still have to choose between a hot meal and putting the heating on, or skipping meals to ensure children don’t go to bed on empty stomachs. That’s why this Easter, we need to renew our collective resolve and ask more employers go beyond the government minimum by paying a higher real living wage. That way workers won’t struggle to survive but have a chance to thrive, and live with dignity. | Even with a welcome increase to the government’s minimum wage due on 1 April, too many people still have to choose between a hot meal and putting the heating on, or skipping meals to ensure children don’t go to bed on empty stomachs. That’s why this Easter, we need to renew our collective resolve and ask more employers go beyond the government minimum by paying a higher real living wage. That way workers won’t struggle to survive but have a chance to thrive, and live with dignity. |
| Young people want to fulfil their hopes as independent adults. This is simply not an option for many of them | Young people want to fulfil their hopes as independent adults. This is simply not an option for many of them |
| Paying a real living wage allows workers to reduce excessive hours and spend more time with their children, to socialise, or enjoy life’s joyous moments such as a birthday meal in a restaurant or a family day out by the seaside. Workers on the government minimum (£7.83 for people over 25 from 1 April) get £30-£40 less a week than the real living wage, making these sort of small comforts out of reach. A poll of parents earning less than the real living wage revealed the damaging, corrosive effect low pay has had on family life and relationships, with almost a quarter of low-paid parents saying their pay rate had negatively affected their relationship with their children. | Paying a real living wage allows workers to reduce excessive hours and spend more time with their children, to socialise, or enjoy life’s joyous moments such as a birthday meal in a restaurant or a family day out by the seaside. Workers on the government minimum (£7.83 for people over 25 from 1 April) get £30-£40 less a week than the real living wage, making these sort of small comforts out of reach. A poll of parents earning less than the real living wage revealed the damaging, corrosive effect low pay has had on family life and relationships, with almost a quarter of low-paid parents saying their pay rate had negatively affected their relationship with their children. |
| We must also not forget that many young people are paid less than the minimum rate. Young people want to achieve independence from their parents, build relationships and fulfil the hopes and dreams as independent adults. This is simply not an option for many of them. | We must also not forget that many young people are paid less than the minimum rate. Young people want to achieve independence from their parents, build relationships and fulfil the hopes and dreams as independent adults. This is simply not an option for many of them. |
| The well-documented decline in industry in the north-east of England makes it a region with one of the highest proportions of low-paid jobs in the UK, according to the Living Wage Foundation, a body set up following a successful campaign for a real living wage rate. So here, it really matters. | The well-documented decline in industry in the north-east of England makes it a region with one of the highest proportions of low-paid jobs in the UK, according to the Living Wage Foundation, a body set up following a successful campaign for a real living wage rate. So here, it really matters. |
| So how do we turn these aspirations for dignity in work into real action. At the end of last year, Sara Bryson, community organiser for Citizens Tyne and Wear was among other speakers at an event called Rethinking Poverty with the North East Child Poverty Commission. The report urges us to “start with the society we want, rather than framing poverty as a problem to be solved”. In the north-east, our new Citizens alliance is campaigning for more employers to sign up for the real living wage, and we recently celebrated Newcastle Building Society, Convatec and Newcastle CVS joining the movement. But there are many more employers in the north-east who don’t pay a wage based on the cost of living. We intend to call out those big employers who could easily afford it but don’t pay it. | So how do we turn these aspirations for dignity in work into real action. At the end of last year, Sara Bryson, community organiser for Citizens Tyne and Wear was among other speakers at an event called Rethinking Poverty with the North East Child Poverty Commission. The report urges us to “start with the society we want, rather than framing poverty as a problem to be solved”. In the north-east, our new Citizens alliance is campaigning for more employers to sign up for the real living wage, and we recently celebrated Newcastle Building Society, Convatec and Newcastle CVS joining the movement. But there are many more employers in the north-east who don’t pay a wage based on the cost of living. We intend to call out those big employers who could easily afford it but don’t pay it. |
| And there are other alliances up and down the country doing similar fantastic work, such as in Nottingham, where I started my time as bishop before moving to Durham. Community organisers from Citizens UK work with faith institutions, schools, women’s groups and other community-led institutions to collaborate and campaign on behalf of the greater good. | And there are other alliances up and down the country doing similar fantastic work, such as in Nottingham, where I started my time as bishop before moving to Durham. Community organisers from Citizens UK work with faith institutions, schools, women’s groups and other community-led institutions to collaborate and campaign on behalf of the greater good. |
| Workers receiving the government minimum tell us what a difference a real living wage (paid to all aged 18+) could make to their lives. But businesses who opt in to pay the real living wage also report that the benefits are far-reaching. Staff will be more motivated, rested, productive, happy and fulfilled and will be able to find a new purpose: to live, not just to exist. | Workers receiving the government minimum tell us what a difference a real living wage (paid to all aged 18+) could make to their lives. But businesses who opt in to pay the real living wage also report that the benefits are far-reaching. Staff will be more motivated, rested, productive, happy and fulfilled and will be able to find a new purpose: to live, not just to exist. |
| • Paul Butler is the bishop of Durham | • Paul Butler is the bishop of Durham |
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| Living wage | Living wage |
| Opinion | Opinion |
| Minimum wage | Minimum wage |
| Children | Children |
| Poverty | Poverty |
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