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A living wage for London?

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>2008
<mark>Journal</mark>Benefits
Issue number1
Volume16
Number of pages9
Pages (from-to)71-79
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

Following the 2004 London mayoral election, the successful candidate, Ken Livingstone, set up a Living Wage Unit to produce a figure for a living wage for London and to push for its implementation across a number of London-wide public employers. This article critically examines the way in which the living wage for London has been calculated and the assumptions on which it is premised. The article argues that while the Greater London Authority should be applauded for being the first local authority in Britain to commit itself to a wage premised on a notion of need, it is difficult to consider its suggested wage to be a living wage because of flaws in the way it has been calculated.