This report shows the number and proportion of employees on less than the living wage. The living wage is an hourly pay figure calculated by the independent "Living Wage Foundation" which estimates how much workers require in earnings to meet everyday cost needs - "like the weekly shop, or a surprise trip to the dentist." More information about the living wage calculation can be found here. The 2022 amount per hour for England excluding London was £9.50.
Jobs below the living wage
The first chart shows the total number of jobs earning below the living wage in North East LEP between 2014 and 2022. This graph shows that the number of these jobs increased across 2014 to 2018. At 2018, the trend turned downwards and the number of jobs earning below the living wage decreased by 40% between 2018 to 2022. This could mean that across the economy the total number of jobs decreased or/and that more jobs started paying above the living wage.
The second chart shows that jobs earning below the living wage followed the same pattern in England excluding London as in North East LEP across the same period. Within this chart, these jobs are indexed at 100 in 2014.
The second chart shows the proportion of jobs earning below the living wage in 2022 in North East LEP LAs. The LA with the highest proportion of jobs earning below the living wage in 2022 was South Tyneside with 21.8% of jobs. North Tyneside had the lowest proportion of jobs earning below the living wage at 11.5% and Newcastle upon Tyne was the area with the second lowest proportion at 11.7%. The other areas were between 14% and 17%. This means that roughly one in six jobs earnt below the living wage in 2022.
