This month, the Fair Economy team at Cynnal Cymru look back at the highlights from this year’s Living Wage Week – an annual celebration of the Living Wage movement in the UK.
Cynnal Cymru are the Living Wage Foundation’s accreditation partner for Wales and have been championing the Living Wage movement in Wales since 2016.
During this time, around 20,869 additional people in Wales have been uplifted to the Real Living Wage, adding £141m in additional income for low-wage earners, with almost 600 employers including Principality, Coaltown Coffee, Fabulous Welshcakes and Ogi becoming accredited.
Living Wage Week highlights
We kicked off Living Wage Week in Wales with our annual national event held at the beautiful Norwegian Church in Cardiff Bay.
Together, we celebrated the real impact of the Living Wage, Living Hours, and Living Pensions, and looked ahead to new developments across the Living Wage in Wales.
We heard talks from Leaders of local authorities, talking about why they have made their local authorities Living Wage Employers – we were delighted that Vale of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire both took the final step in accreditation to mark this Living Wage Week.
The Future Generations Commissioner Derek Walker spoke about why they’ve asked all public bodies in Wales to make a plan to become Living Wage Employers by 2027.
“The Future Generations Commissioner, Derek Walker, has asked all councils to commit to paying their staff a Real Living Wage, in his Future Generations Report, 2025, published ahead of May’s Senedd elections. Each of Wales’ 56 public bodies, he says, should have a plan for accreditation within two years in a critical step towards tackling poverty.”
And it was also great to have a video from the First Minister, Eluned Morgan talking about the Welsh Government’s commitment to the Living Wage.
On Wednesday of Living Wage Week, we attended the Well-being Economy – Festival of Ideas event, held in Swansea arena. Here we had some great conversations around the Living Wage, with already accredited organisations and organisations who wanted to hear more about it.
We ended the week in Wrexham. We were delighted to attend the Living Wage North Wales event, hosted by the Future Generations Commissioner. Bringing together partners from across the public, private and voluntary sectors to discuss how we can promote the Living Wage and tackle in-work poverty across the region.
A big thank you to everyone who joined the conversation and shared insights, experiences and ideas.
If you’re interested in joining the Living Wage, Living Hours, and Living Pensions movement, please contact the Living Wage Wales team.
