NEARLY a quarter of workers in Stretford and Urmston are not paid the Living Wage, according to figures revealed by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) this week.

More than 23 per cent of employees in the constituency are paid less than £7.85 an hour, with even fewer women (33.1 per cent) and part-time staff (42.3 pre cent) receiving the rate recommended by the Living Wage Foundation.

Labour MP for Stretford and Urmston, Kate Green, acknowledged some industrial sectors paying lower wages may contribute to this, and emphasised her support for a Living Wage for her constituents.

“It can’t be right that people who go out to work earn less than enough to live on. That’s why I support the Living Wage,” she said.

“We need to make sure more part-time jobs are available at higher wages. Family leave – like Labour’s promise to increase paid paternity leave – means women shouldn’t lose out when they have children.”

The Living Wage is independently calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK, and is currently set at £7.85 an hour, and £9.15 in London.

The TUC’s figures show that nationally one in five (21.7 per cent) workers earn below this level – more than five million people – and that women (26.6 per cent) and part-time staff (42.3 per cent) are less likely to be paid this.

In Ms Green’s constituency, 23.8 per cent don’t get paid the living wage.

In Altrincham and Sale West the figure is 22.1 per cent and in Wythenshawe and Sale East the figure is 18.7 per cent.

Women in Stretford and Urmston (33.1 per cent) are almost twice as likely as their male counterparts (17.4 per cent) to be paid below the recommended minimum salary.

“The gender pay gap between women and men is stubbornly still with us many decades after the Equal Pay Act,” added Ms. Green.

“More women work part-time or take breaks in their careers to bring up children, and that is a major reason why they suffer low pay.”

Trades Union Congress (TUC) general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Extending the living wage is a vital step towards tackling the growing problem of in-work poverty across Britain.

“We need to see a far wider commitment to pay the living wage from government, employers and modern wages councils, to drive up productivity and set higher minimum rates in industries where employers can afford to pay their staff more.”

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