Cardiff Living Wage City Partnership

Cardiff Council made the commitment to pay the Real Living Wage (RLW) in 2012 and was accredited as a Living Wage Employer by the Living Wage Foundation in 2015. In July 2017, the Council’s administration set out its commitment for Cardiff to become a Living Wage City in response to rising housing, food and fuel prices and the increased cost of living, particularly with in-work poverty becoming a growing issue within the UK.

A Living Wage City Partnership was created to secure more jobs in the city that pay the RLW and encourage employers to become accredited as Living Wage Employers. The Partnership’s membership comprises some of the city’s anchor institutions such as the Council; Cardiff & Vale University Health Board; Cardiff University; Wales TUC Cymru; and Capital Law, as well as voluntary sector organisations including Cynnal Cymru (Sustain Wales) – the official accreditation body for the RLW in Wales; Citizens Cymru; Cardiff Third Sector Council; and Cardiff & Vale Credit Union.

The Partnership’s Steering Group is further strengthened and supported by the political commitment and leadership of the Council’s Leader, as Chair of the Steering Group, and Cabinet Member for Finance who have both driven forward this agenda and challenged other public services and employers in Cardiff to sign up to paying the RLW. This resulted in Cardiff achieving Living Wage City status in November 2019; the only UK capital city to have received this distinction.