GMB study show 1.1m workers in South East paid less than 10 pound per hour
GMB calls on the 1,142,300 workers in the South East earning less than £10 per hour to vote for Labour’s promise to raise the minimum wage to the level of the Living Wage, expected to be £10 per hour by 2020.
A GMB study released today shows that there are over 9.3m jobs in the United Kingdom that pay under £10 per hour. In the South East there are over 1.1m jobs paying under £10 per hour.
The area in the region with the largest number of jobs paying under £10 per hour is Kent with 206,600. Next is Hampshire with 177,000, West Sussex with 120,100, Surrey with 116,600 and Oxfordshire with 76,300.
Set out in the table below are the number of jobs in the South East paying under £10 per hour. See notes to editors for sources and definitions.
| Number of jobs under £10 per hour | ||
| United Kingdom | 9,351,600 | |
| South East | 1,142,300 | |
| 1 | Kent | 206,600 |
| 2 | Hampshire | 177,000 |
| 3 | West Sussex | 120,100 |
| 4 | Surrey | 116,600 |
| 5 | Oxfordshire | 76,300 |
| 6 | East Sussex | 76,000 |
| 7 | Buckinghamshire | 62,800 |
| 8 | Southampton UA | 39,600 |
| 9 | Brighton and Hove UA | 37,400 |
| 10 | Milton Keynes UA | 36,200 |
| 11 | Medway UA | 35,700 |
| 12 | Portsmouth UA | 29,900 |
| 13 | Reading UA | 24,300 |
| 14 | West Berkshire UA | 22,000 |
| 15 | Isle of Wight UA | 21,300 |
| 16 | Slough UA | 19,500 |
| 17 | Wokingham UA | 15,300 |
| 18 | Bracknell Forest UA | 14,500 |
| 19 | Windsor and Maidenhead UA | 12,600 |
Paul Maloney, GMB Southern Regional Secretary, said “It has been GMB congress policy since 2014 that the National Minimum Wage should be raised to £10 per hour to provide workers with an adequate level of income from a full-time job to enable them to pay the bills and to have a reasonable standard of living.
“The current system of having tax credits to subsidise employers paying low wages is very costly to tax payers and in the long run it is not necessary. Employers should be encouraged to develop effective systems of work and to improve productivity to enable them to pay a minimum of £10 per hour without subsidies from the tax payer.
“The Labour Party election manifesto pledges to raise the minimum wage to the level of the Living Wage for all workers aged 18 or over so that work pays.
“GMB call on the electorate in the South East to support this policy which will be good for the long term future of the UK economy.”
Contact: Paul Maloney 07901343839 or Michelle Gordon on 07866 369259
Notes to Editors
1) The Labour Party manifesto page 47
Raise the Minimum Wage to the level of the Living Wage (expected to be at least £10 per hour by 2020) – for all workers aged 18 or over, so that work pays.
2) Earnings data is from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2016, Office for National Statistics. Data is for hourly pay for all employees by place of residence excluding overtime. The number earning under £10 per hour has been calculated by using the median percentile figures.
