Calculating the Real Living Wage for London and the rest of the UK: 2022

This report sets out the method through which the Living Wage (LW) rates  – a voluntary hourly pay rate that is based on what families need to get by – in London and the rest of the UK are calculated by the Resolution Foundation, and overseen by the Living Wage Commission on behalf of the Living Wage Foundation. 

These rates provide a benchmark for employers that voluntarily commit to go further than paying Government-set minimum wages, ensuring their staff earn a wage that they can live on. We detail the sources underpinning the calculations which are based on the best available evidence about living standards and costs, and how these and other inputs to the calculation have changed since last year.  

The context for this year’s rates has been the ongoing ‘cost of living crisis’, which has seen inflation reach its highest rate since the early 1980s. This high inflation is the main reason for the large increases in the LW rates this year.  

The UK Living Wage for 2022-23 is £10.90. 

The London Living Wage for 2022-23 is £11.95