Celebrating Our Commitment to Real Living Wage
This week we received the wonderful news that we have been accredited as a Living Wage Employer.
The Living Wage Foundation’s real Living Wage remains the only UK wage rate independently calculated based on the cost of living, rising annually based on living costs. It gives us as employers the confidence that we are paying a wage that meets daily needs, not just the government minimum.
Our Living Wage commitment will see everyone working at Home-Start Hampshire receive a minimum hourly wage of £12.60, higher than the government minimum for over 21s, which currently stands at £12.21 per hour.
Katherine Chapman, Director, Living Wage Foundation said: “We’re delighted that Home-Start Hampshire has joined the movement of over 16,000 responsible employers across the UK who voluntarily commit to go further than the government minimum to make sure all their staff earn enough to live on.
“They join thousands of small businesses, as well as household names such as Burberry, Barclays, Everton Football Club and many more. These businesses recognise that paying the real Living Wage is the mark of a responsible employer and they, like Home-Start Hampshire, believe that everyone needs to be able to live with dignity and have a decent standard of living.”
About the Living Wage Foundation
The Living Wage Foundation is the organisation at the heart of the independent movement of employers, people and communities who believe in work that works for everyone. Together we are driving up employment standards so that everyone has a decent standard of living now and in the future. Through our Living Wage, Living Hours and Living Pension accreditations, we champion and celebrate employers who make an ongoing commitment to do the right thing by their employees by providing the security and freedom they need to thrive.
The Living Wage Foundation is part of Citizens UK; the UK’s biggest, most diverse, and effective people powered alliance. Our accreditation schemes make change on the issues that matter. The Living Wage Foundation receives guidance and advice from the Living Wage Advisory Council. The Foundation is supported by our principal partners: Aviva; IKEA; Joseph Rowntree Foundation; KPMG; Linklaters; Nationwide; Nestle; Resolution Foundation; Oxfam; Trust for London; People’s Health Trust; and Queen Mary University of London.
What about the Government’s national living wage?
In July 2015, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the UK Government would introduce a compulsory ‘national living wage’ (NLW). This new government rate was a new minimum wage for staff over 25 years old. It was introduced in April 2016 and the rate is £12.21 as of April 2025. From April 2024 it applies to everyone over 21 years old.
The rate is different to the Living Wage rates calculated by the Living Wage Foundation. The government rate is based on median earnings, while the Living Wage Foundation rates remain the only ones calculated according to the cost of living in London and the UK. A full-time worker paid the £12.60 real Living Wage will receive £760.50 in additional wages annually compared to the current Government minimum. For a full-time worker in London this figure rises to £3,19
