As inflation hit its highest level for 41 years, protesters from community campaign group Citizens UK gathered outside a care home in Haringey, run by private chain Barchester Healthcare, to demand a real wage for care staff. More than a third of council-based jobs, 34.2%, earn less than the real living wage. It is the highest figure for any local authority across the UK, according to new analysis by the Living Wage Foundation. Haringey was closely followed by other outer London boroughs including Bexley (33.1%), Redbridge (31.9%) and Walthamstow (30.4%). The real living wage is calculated by the independent Living Wage Foundation each year, based on the cost of the essentials necessary for a decent standard of living. In 2021-22, it was £9.90 across the UK and £11.05 in London. Outer London boroughs are judged at the highest rate because the cost of living locally is high – but they tend not to have as many of the higher paying jobs more prevalent in inner London. Analysis of official figures shows that last year was the first since 2012 when a higher proportion of workers across London (13.6%) earned less than the real living wage than across the UK (12 .2%). Both of these figures were lower than a year earlier, however, as the statutory “national living wage” rose. The National Living Wage is set by the government and paid to workers aged 23 and over. It was set at £9.50 this year, close to the real living wage across the UK but £1.15 below the London rate. The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is expected to announce a significant rise in this national living wage in Thursday’s state of the economy, given the high rate of inflation – perhaps to £10.40 an hour. The Living Wage Foundation has recommended that accredited employers who have pledged to pay the Real Living Wage – which includes half of the FTSE100 – increase the pay to £10.90 an hour across the UK and £11.95 for London, the following year. Citizens UK, which started in east London more than 20 years ago, involves churches, schools and community groups in its campaigns. Local teacher Dominique Edwards, of Haringey Learning Partnership, who attended the protest with two of her pupils, said: “All our pupils are from the borough. We find that even parents who have full-time jobs still struggle to meet some of their basic needs. “At the end of the day, if their families are struggling, it ultimately has a direct impact on young people.” With no one at home willing to speak to the small group of protesters, they delivered cards to care workers from students at Willow District Elementary School through the letterbox. Paul Amuzie, of Citizens UK Haringey, said: “We’re a members’ organization and the issues we work on come from their stories – and ultimately, low pay means children go to school without breakfast.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our site and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Protesters in Haringey Photo: Martin Godwin/The Guardian Barchester Healthcare is currently advertising for care assistants to work in the Haringey home at a salary of “up to £10 an hour”. The company hit the headlines in 2020 when its CEO, Pete Calveley, earned more than £2 million. Barchester’s latest accounts show it made a loss of £2.57m in 2021. Its highest-paid manager – likely Calveley – took home £898,000. The filing at Companies House notes that this did not make up the entirety of that person’s earnings, however, as the directors were “also employed by another company in the Grove Ltd group”. Grove Ltd is the sole owner of Barchester’s Jersey. Social care is one of the sectors hardest hit by the staff shortages currently plaguing the UK economy. Research by the King’s Fund thinktank earlier this year found that half of independent care home workers would earn more in a basic job in a supermarket. A Barchester Healthcare spokesman said: “We take the wellbeing of our employees very seriously and offer the most comprehensive remuneration package in the healthcare sector. We actively benchmark ourselves against other providers to ensure we are in the top quartile of care home staff pay.’ They added that all staff at the home were paid “at least £9.90 an hour”.
