March 01, 2016
Living wage support growing
Living Wage campaigners last night released the latest calculation of what people need to be paid if they are to support their family.
It’s $19.80 an hour, a third more than the current minimum wage, which will increase from $14.75 to $15.25 in April.
Annie Newman from Living Wage Aotearoa says that’s galling to those whanau in need of support.
"Right across Auckland people are turning up at foodbanks to collect food to supplement the cupboard at home and those people are in work so we have growing in-work poverty in New Zealand and that’s not good enough. People give up a lot of time and make a lot of sacrifices to go to work and they should be able to live off that but the reality in New Zealand is it is no longer the case," she says.
Annie Newman says there are now 47 Auckland employers who have committed to paying the living wage, double the number last year.
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