The Living Wage: Core Principles and global perspectives

The concept of a Living Wage is now established around the world. Campaign groups, governments and others are increasingly interested in its ability to address in-work poverty and help lower paid workers – wherever they may be – to lead decent lives and participate fully in their communities.

Recognising not only this growing interest but also the many challenges involved in developing common thinking around a Living Wage, ACCA and the Living Wage Foundation came together to conduct a global piece of research. This resulted in the report Living Wage: A global overview of initiatives and regulations, giving an overview of Living Wage developments globally, and identifying legal frameworks that have evolved to support the Living Wage lobby.

This report presents a snapshot of current thinking around the world, and is based on discussions during seven roundtable events (in Brussels, Hong Kong, Kampala, London, New York, Shanghai and Johannesburg) held between February and August 2015. Participants in the roundtables represented a broad spectrum of business and society, including employers, worker representatives, academics, campaign groups and other parties interested in the Living Wage concept. They were posed eight common questions, designed to elicit their views on a range of issues related to the setting and application of a Living Wage around the world.