Basic wages not paid to one in four Yorkshire workers

Some 519,000 people in the region - 26 per cent of all employees - earn less than £7.85 per hour, the amount considered to be the ‘Living Wage’ outside of London and are forced to live “hand to mouth” as a result.

Leeds and Calderdale are anomalies, as both outperform the national average with 21 per cent and 20 per cent of employees paid less than the voluntary Living Wage respectively.

Employees in Harrogate are the worst off in Yorkshire, with 34 per cent earning below the Living Wage; compared to 23 per cent of all employees in the UK.

Nationally, the proportion of workers earning less than the Living Wage has risen for the third year running and applies to almost six million workers.

The data, published by professional services firm KPMG, also reveals part-time, female and young workers are most likely to earn the lowest wages.

Chris Hearld, KPMG’s North region chairman, said: “The past year has seen some notable achievements, with both the number of employers accredited by the Living Wage Foundation and awareness of the issue among the general public increasing. However, there’s still a significant number of people across the region paid below the Living Wage.

“With the cost of living still high and household finances being continually squeezed, many are forced to live hand to mouth.”

Mr Hearld urged employers to respond, saying: “For some time it was easy for businesses to hide behind the argument that increased wages hit their bottom line, but there is ample evidence to suggest the opposite – in the shape of higher retention and higher productivity.

“While it can’t go unrecognised that many regional businesses face a number of challenges and it may not be possible for every business, it’s certainly not impossible to explore the feasibility of paying the Living Wage and recognise the long-term benefits it brings.”

Shadow business secretary Angela Eagle said progress towards creating better-paid, skilled jobs was slipping and the data betrayed the Tories’ claim that they are on the side of working people.

She added: “At the same time, the Tories are making life harder for those on low and middle incomes as they cut tax credits and hit families with a work penalty - taking on average £1,300 out of the pockets of up to three million working families.”

A Government spokeswoman said: “Britain deserves a pay rise and from April the new national living wage will give a direct boost in wages for 2.7m people across the country, meaning a full-time worker will earn over £4,800 more by 2020 and with up to six million expected to see their wages rise by 2020 as the knock-on effects are felt higher up the earnings scale.

“Treasury analysis shows that women and those based outside London and the South East will be the biggest winners when the new national living wage comes into force. We’re determined to move to a higher wage economy and welcome any employers who choose to pay above the national living wage.”