A real living wage tied to the cost of living, not a political number

The "National Living Wage" is not a living wage. It is the minimum wage with a marketing rebrand. A genuine living wage is calculated based on what people actually need to live on, factoring in housing costs, food, transport, energy, and childcare. The Living Wage Foundation calculates this independently every year and it is consistently higher than the government rate, especially in London.

I have represented care workers who earn the legal minimum and rely on food banks in the same week they work 50 hours. That is not an edge case. It is the norm across social care, retail, hospitality, and warehousing.

Tie the minimum wage to the real Living Wage Foundation rate by law. Update it annually. And extend it properly to under-21s, because a 19-year-old doing the same job as a 25-year-old should not be paid less for it. Age-based wage discrimination is just cheap labour with a legal excuse.