This indicator measures the percentage of workers earning less than the living wage. Find out more about this indicator.

The proportion of employees earning less than the Living Wage has decreased from 18.8 per cent in 2012 to 14.4 per cent in 2021, a decrease of 0.7 percentage points on the previous year.. The proportion of employees earning less than the Living Wage is now lower than at any previous point in the series, which began in 2012.

This indicator can be broken down by age and gender. These breakdowns can be viewed on the Equality Evidence Finder. 

The proportion earning less than the Living wage is highest amongst those aged 18-24 (40.2 per cent in 2021). The proportions have decreased across all age categories and are lower than at any previous point since 2012.

A lower proportion of men earn less than the living wage, a trend which has been consistent since the series began in 2012. The gap has narrowed, however, from 8.5 percentage points in 2012 (14.4 per cent for men, 22.8 per cent for women) to 3.5 percentage points in 2021 (12.5 per cent for men, 16.0 per cent for women).