The Living Wage movement began at a meeting in East London in 2001, when Citizens UK brought together faith organisations, schools, trade unions and other local institutions to talk about the issues affecting their communities. One issue came up time and time again – low pay.

In 2007, the Poverty Alliance established the Scottish Living Wage Campaign, a coalition of trade unions, anti-poverty campaigners, voluntary organisations and faith-based groups with the aim of increasing support for the Living Wage in Scotland.

The first UK Living Wage rate was launched by the Living Wage Foundation in 2011 and the accreditation scheme was established to celebrate employers choosing to go further than the government minimum.

Living Wage Scotland was launched in April 2014 with the aim of increasing the number of employers in Scotland who are recognised for paying their staff the real Living Wage. Established by The Poverty Alliance, Living Wage Scotland works in partnership with the Living Wage Foundation and is funded by the Scottish Government.

Since then we have seen local authorities, health boards and companies across all sectors and industries commit to paying their staff a decent wage. Today, we support a network of over 3400 employers in Scotland and have seen 64,000 plus workers receive a pay rise as a direct result of Living Wage accreditation.