Welcome for Plaid’s Living Wage Pledge

The Bevan Foundation has welcomed Plaid Cymru’s pledge to introduce the Living Wage throughout Wales.

Speaking to the Western Mail the Foundation’s Director, Victoria Winckler, who was a member of the Living Wage Commission, said “Our work at the Living Wage Commission showed that paying workers enough to live on is a win-win – workers can afford a basic but acceptable lifestyle, businesses gain from lower staff turn-over and higher productivity, and the public purse benefits from savings on in-work benefits and more taxes being paid. There needs to be a clear way forward – it’s relatively easy for the public sector to raise their pay levels, but the challenge remains of persuading the private sector that it makes long-term economic sense to pay a living wage.

According to Plaid’s analysis of the impact of the minimum wage on the economy, higher wages could result in a GDP boost of £91.4m.

The report of the Living Wage Commission is here.