Reasons to be Cheerful with Ed Miliband & Geoff Lloyd

The national living wage is going up to at least £11 an hour from next April. Although it's claimed the rise will help two million of the lowest paid workers, many campaigners are saying it's still not enough for a decent standard of living in the current economic climate. The Real Living Wage is one alternative. It's a voluntary commitment from employers to pay their workers enough to meet their everyday needs, and unlike the government's living wage it's calculated according to the actual cost of living. We spoke to Sheila Blackburn and Margaret Beckett MP in 2021 about the history of the fight for a government-set minimum wage. We also spoke to Lola McEvoy back in 2019 and Gavin Kelly about the Real Living Wage and why the campaign has been so successful to date.

Guests

Dr Sheila Blackburn, Historian, University of Liverpool

Margaret Beckett MP, Former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1995-1997)

Gavin Kelly, Chair of the Living Wage Commission (@GavinJKelly1)

Lola McEvoy, Formerly of the Living Wage Foundation (@Lola__McEvoy)

More Information

Listen to RTBC 78 Living wage against the machine (March 2019)

Listen to RTBC 221 First they ignore you : Part four - the fight for a minimum wage (Dec 2021)

Learn more about the Living Wage Foundation