Almost half a million workers paid the voluntary so-called real living wage are set to receive an increase after new rates were announced. The hourly rate will rise by 85p to £13.45 an hour, or 6.7%, and by 95p to £14.80 an hour in London – a 6.9% increase.

The improved rates will be paid by the growing number of real living wage employers, which now total more than 16,000. This year’s rise means a full-time worker earning the real living wage will take home £2,418 more per year than someone on the Government’s minimum wage, and £5,050 more in London, said the Living Wage Foundation, which sets the rates.

The foundation said that despite economic challenges in the UK, the number of employers signed up to pay the real living wage has continued to grow, with nearly 2,500 new accreditatio

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