Shaping the Living Wage movement
Our long-term research programme on the Living Wage is shaping national strategy, informing public policy, and improving wages and working conditions for hundreds of thousands across the UK.
Huge numbers of workers across the UK are in low-paid work, and rates of in-work poverty continue to rise.
Against this backdrop, the Living Wage has become one of the most significant voluntary interventions in the labour market: a movement shaped not only by community organising and civic action, but also by a growing body of research that has helped explain how the standard spreads, why employers adopt it, and what it achieves.
For more than a decade, researchers at Cardiff Business School have been central to building that evidence base. Working closely with the Living Wage Foundation, Citizens UK, and partners across the UK, the team has developed the first comprehensive picture of the Living Wage as a form of civil regulation.
Our analyses show that accreditation now spans over 16,000 employers covering 3.8 million workers, making it one of the largest voluntary labour-market interventions in the UK.
Our work considers wage levels as well as the organisational factors and broader context that shape low-paid work: the motivations behind employer decisions, the role of values and reputation, the influence of procurement and contracting, and the lived experience of workers in low-pay sectors.
Strengthening the Living Wage movement
Our researchers are deepening understanding of low pay and shaping how the Living Wage spreads, generating evidence that informs employers, guides national strategy, and improves working lives across the UK.
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Understanding employer decisions
We examine why organisations adopt the Living Wage – revealing the mix of values, reputation, culture and practical considerations that shape decisions across sectors and regions. -
Experiences inside organisations
Through surveys and interviews, we explore what changes follow accreditation, from improvements in recruitment and retention to shifts in workplace relations and supply-chain practices. -
National patterns of change
Our datasets show where and how the Living Wage is spreading, highlighting differences across industries, regions and public, private and not-for-profit sectors, and what this means for tackling low pay. -
Collaborating for impact
Working closely with the Living Wage Foundation, Citizens UK and policy makers, we provide evidence that shapes campaigning strategy, informs procurement and contributes to fair work policy. -
Improving lives and futures
Our research helps demonstrate the real-world consequences of low pay, supporting wage increases for hundreds of thousands of workers, many in undervalued roles and outsourced occupations.
“Our research on the Real Living Wage indicates that many thousands of workers have benefited – often receiving a substantial pay increase – and that more than £4bn has been transferred to the low paid.”
— Professor Edmund Heery, Emeritus Professor of Employment Relations
Through national datasets, surveys of accredited employers, and qualitative research across industries, our researchers have shown where and how the Living Wage gains traction.
Our findings reveal the complex mix of ethical commitment, organisational culture, and practical benefits that underpin accreditation. These include the ways employers balance costs with improvements in recruitment, retention, and workplace relations, as well as the ripple effects that extend into supply chains, outsourced services, and local labour markets.
They have also documented the scale of change for workers themselves, with a median hourly uplift of 9%, and around 68,000 people receiving increases of 20% or more.
This evidence has played an important role in shaping the movement’s development. It has informed national campaigning strategy, strengthened the Living Wage Foundation’s engagement with employers, and provided a clearer understanding of the standard’s impact at a time when political and economic conditions are rapidly changing.
Policymakers have drawn on the research to support new approaches to procurement, fair work, and labour-market governance. In Wales, the findings helped catalyse a step-change in accreditation, and contributed directly to the establishment of the Fair Work Commission, whose recommendations continue to shape pay and employment practice across the nation. By demonstrating both wide uptake and meaningful pay improvements, the research has helped the movement make a robust case to policymakers and employers alike.
Today, as the cost-of-living crisis intensifies pressures on low-income households, our researchers continue to examine how voluntary wage standards operate and how they can evolve.
Our work remains grounded in evidence, collaboration, and public value – supporting a movement that has already delivered better pay for hundreds of thousands of workers, particularly in roles that have long been undervalued.
With so many workers already benefiting from accreditation, our continuing research helps ensure voluntary wage standards remain effective and responsive in a rapidly changing labour market.
“Low pay isn’t an abstract issue. It affects families, communities and the futures people can imagine. Our work aims to make those consequences visible — and to support the change already happening on the ground.”
— Professor Deborah Hann
Meet the team
Find out more about our research
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