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Wednesday 4 September 2013

Kent Green Party Living Wage, Low & Unequal Pay

Kent Green Party calls on employers to pay their staff a “living wage” of at least £7.45 per hour (1).

Figures published today show that 4.8 million people (20% of the workforce) are paid below the living wage and that this figure is increasing (2).
Green Party spokesperson and Thanet Councillor, Ian Driver, said “Parts of Kent, especially in the east, are becoming low-pay ghettos. Average wages in Ashford, Swale and Thanet are the lowest in the county (3) and Thanet the lowest in south east England (4).

“Tens of thousands of Kent people are struggling to get by on poverty pay. Many are dependent on in-work benefits such as Council Tax Credit, Child and Working Tax Credit, and Housing Benefit to make ends meet”.

“Taxpayers are in effect subsidising bad employers who instead of paying their staff a decent wage are trousering extra profit knowing that someone else will pick up the tab. A compulsory living wage will ensure that people in employment don’t have to depend on benefits”.
“The majority of Kent’s low paid are women working in the retail, hospitality and care sectors. There is also a huge £131 per week differential between the average  weekly wage of men in full-time work in Kent and women. A gap which has been steadily growing over the past 15 years (5)”.

“The Green Party calls for an urgent review of this massively unfair gender based pay gap and for the strengthening of laws to prevent discriminatory employment practices which have led to this totally unacceptable situation”

Ends
(1)   See Living Wage Foundation http://www.livingwage.org.uk/
(2)   Low Pay Britain 2013, The Resolution Foundation http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/
(3)   Earnings in Kent 2012, Kent County Council 2013 http://www.kent.gov.uk/your_council/kent_facts_and_figures/the_economy_and_labour_market/earnings_and_income.aspx
(4)   Earnings in Kent 2012, Kent County Council 2013 Ashford £402pw, Swale £422, Thanet £331
(5)   Earnings in Kent 2012, Kent County Council 2013 page 8 average Kent male FT wage in 2012 £544.5, average Kent female FT wage £421.4 difference = £132.10

3 comments:

  1. Good idea -but where are the tax cuts? An expanding public sector is unsustainable especially TDC which is substandard yet already has a living wage and salaries and pensions above the private sector.

    And how much is spent on company car and expenses and 6,000 bailiff visits?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes: High tax-low pay is the worst possible result. Fewer taxpayers and higher taxes to fund bureaucrats to raise taxes.

      Any economy works on more taxpayers, fewer bureaucrats and lower taxes. Unless you work in the public sector of course...

      Delete
  2. IT must be almost a million quid with bailiffs - plus court costs and TDC's salary costs. Layers upon layers of clerks?

    ReplyDelete