MORE than 300,000 workers are set to receive pay increases after a rise in the Real Living Wage, a voluntary rate paid by thousands of employers.

The new hourly rate will be £11.05 in London and £9.90 outside the capital, increases of 20p and 40p respectively.

The Living Wage Foundation, which sets the rates, said almost 9,000 employers across Britain now pay the wage, which is higher than the statutory National Living Wage of £8.91 an hour for adults, which will itself rise to £9.50 in April.

It announced that new employers signing up to pay the higher rates include construction firms Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon Homes, Fujitsu, food delivery company Getir, and Capita.

However, the foundation said that 4.8 million jobs still pay less than the Real Living Wage.

Living Wage Foundation diirector Katherine Chapman said: “With living costs rising so rapidly, today’s new living wage rates will provide hundreds of thousands of workers and their families with greater security and stability.

“Despite this, there are still millions trapped in working poverty, struggling to keep their heads above water and these are people working in jobs that kept society going during the pandemic like social care workers and cleaners.”

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said the report showed that low pay was “endemic,” with millions of workers in jobs that don’t pay the bills or put food on the table.

She added: “After 11 years of Conservative government, real wages are only just getting back to their 2009 level, and the Budget revealed we face another half decade of wage stagnation.

“With Britain in the middle of a cost-of-living crunch, it’s time for the government to act.”