Join Living Wage campaigner Mary McManus to find out more about the Living Wage for East Belfast Campaign and the Living Wage Movement in NI.

The Living Wage is an initiative by Citizens UK which began in inner city London over 20 years ago. The rate, currently £12 per hour across the UK and £13.15 in London for all those 18 and above, is set by the Resolution Foundation. It is higher than the government minimums and is based on what it costs to have a decent standard of living. Signing up as a Living Wage employer is voluntary and more than 14000 employers across the UK have taken this step.

Scotland has almost 3500 employers signed up, Wales 563 but NI's figure is just 85. NI has almost the highest number of people paid below the real living wage in the UK Scotland has the lowest. However, things are changing; 2023 has been the best year yet for employers in NI signing up to the Living Wage with almost 1000 people receiving a pay rise as a result.

The Living Wage is a means to begin tackling in-work poverty but has been a long-neglected area of anti-poverty work in NI. It is time we caught up with the rest of the UK.

Join them to find out how.