WHAT IS THE LIVING WAGE ALLIANCE?

The Living Wage Alliance is made up of organisations dedicated to a shared vision of financial stability for workers and their families, who are able to live a dignified life and participate fully in society. Our aim is to support activities focused on achieving Living Wages for workers across global supply chains. The Living Wage Alliance was established through a partnership between the Living Wage Foundation, Living Wage for US, ShareAction, the UN Global Compact, and the World Benchmarking Alliance. Our objectives contribute to an overarching aim of growing the global Living Wage movement to strengthen its collective impact, by:

  • Promoting best practice for provision of Living Wages across the value chain
  • Increasing collaboration, consensus, and alignment across the global Living Wage movement

The Living Wage Alliance adheres to the Global Living Wage Coalition’s definition of a Living Wage:

“The remuneration received for a standard workweek by a worker in a particular place sufficient to afford a decent standard of living for the worker and her or his family. Elements of a decent standard of living include food, water, housing, education, health care, transportation, clothing, and other essential needs including provision for unexpected events.”

WHAT IS THE LIVING WAGE GLOBAL EXPLORER?

The Living Wage Global Explorer is an independent effort designed to highlight the work of experts around the world who can provide decision-makers with guidance on best practice for achieving Living Wages across global value chains. The majority of organisations represented in the explorer are members of the Living Wage Alliance who agree with the principles below. Where they do not, more information is provided on the organisation’s profile about the principle(s) with which they do not agree, and why.

Our principles

  • Workers should be able to earn a Living Wage in a standard workweek, within a reasonable number of working hours
  • Living Wage should allow families to meet basic needs at a standard of decency
  • Living Wage should contribute to gender equity through inclusion of living costs that disproportionately fall on women e.g. childcare
  • Workers should be able to save some amount for unexpected events
  • In-kind benefits need to be valuable to a worker and reduce their living costs in order to be considered part of a Living Wage/remuneration
  • Living Wage should be locally specific and internationally comparable, representing a point in time
  • Living Wage should provide worker choice
  • Living Wage efforts should bolster freedom of association and provide a reference point for collective bargaining
  • There should be clarity and transparency around benchmark data, which should be publicly available, along with information on methodology
  • Global and national level Living Wage efforts should ensure local stakeholder acceptance
  • Employers and investors that have achieved their Living Wage commitments should act as champions within their sector to improve peer-to-peer learning
  • Investors should have clear understanding of Living Wage commitments made and achieved by their stakeholders

WHAT CHALLENGES DOES THE LIVING WAGE GLOBAL EXPLORER SOLVE?

Currently, most Living Wage initiatives focus on supply chain implementation, or on implementation within a producer’s own operations in low and middle income countries. In comparison, there is less consideration of approaches that employers nearer the top and/or retail end of value chains should take to improve their own operations so that directly employed and subcontracted staff on site are paid a Living Wage too. Likewise, investors who are in a strong position of influence to motivate employers to implement Living Wages across their entire supply chains are also not adequately considered in existing initiatives, and there is a general lack of understanding of how the investor community can best support efforts.

The Living Wage Global Explorer will not only increase visibility of a wide range of actors working in these areas, but will also provide an initial point of contact to encourage collaboration.

HOW CAN MY ORGANISATION BE INCLUDED?

If your organisation actively focuses on Living Wage, please complete this survey to tell us more about the scope of your work, the types of stakeholders involved, and the values behind your general approach. We have provided definitions here for some of the terminology included in survey questions. The survey can be completed any time, and responses will be reviewed by partners on a quarterly basis before upload. You will be required to update your responses on an annual basis, or confirm that there have been no changes to the scope of your work.

We are particularly keen to amplify the work of organisations progressing action on Living Wage and creating impact at local level – please forward this survey to your networks in-country where possible.

Note that employers, investors, and/or buyers and suppliers of goods and services are not included in the scope of this project. Contact us here to help us understand more about your organisation’s Living Wage priorities.

HOW IS THE LIVING WAGE GLOBAL EXPLORER POPULATED AND MAINTAINED?

The Living Wage Foundation acts as coordinator for the Living Wage Global Explorer, and is responsible for data collection and maintenance. Survey responses are reviewed on a quarterly basis by establishing partners (Living Wage Foundation, Living Wage for US, ShareAction, UN Global Compact, and the World Benchmarking Alliance).

If you any further questions or feedback, please contact global@livingwage.org.uk.