The Living Wage

1 Introduction

Peter Prowse and Tony Dobbins

Against a backdrop of rising income inequalities and the decline in collective trade union wage bargaining in many countries, the living wage (LW) has become an increasingly important issue for public policy, practitioners, academics and, most importantly, workers who are paid it and those who are seeking to be paid it. Civil society organisations like Citizens UK/The Living Wage Foundation in the UK, and other actors like unions, have mobilised LW campaigns to tackle the symptoms of income inequality. A real living wage (RLW) is the minimum income deemed necessary for workers to be able to afford their basic needs. Such needs include food, housing, and other basic essentials like clothing. The ...