Min wage should be lower up north to make it higher down south.

[Witchofwisteria]

Hear me out. Minimum wage should be given out on more of a regional basis. I think this would help spread the wealth and prevent poverty in such crushingly expensive places like London?

Example: If you live in Hull minimum wage should be £7ph but if you live in London it should be £15ph. Purely because you can rent a lush 3 bed house in Hull for £400-£600 pcm but in London (rougher areas and outskirts) it would be £1800+ at least.

Seems daft to keep increasing minimum wage nationwide when some areas can clearly get more for their money and therefore require less money to live a reasonable life and some require more! (London needs fast food staff, retail workers and cleaners too!) I think something similar with benefits should also happen but I don't know enough about the ins and outs of universal credit to think about the adjustments required.

Thoughts?

@Believeitornot Did I say that? No. Is that a fact already? No. What I mean is that if you want to live in a high demand, sought after area then it comes at a price. I’d love to live in London again but I’m not willing to make the sacrifices on my living arrangements at this stage in my life. It’s all about priorities.

Wouldn't you get higher housing benefit in London vs Hull though?

I actually want to break talk guidelines in my response OP. Bravo man

If it was paid out of one pot, which it isn't. I wouldn't be impressed with lower wages for people up here just to fund people living in that toilet.

By your logic then everyone who lives up north earning minimum wage is living a comfortable life. That clearly isn't the case.

I live in the Midlands and my rent is cheap but I'm not living in a "lush" house, I'm living in a crappy 2 bedroom flat with no outside space with DS while I try to save for a mortgage.

But where do you draw the line?

For example in the midlands you could live in a v expensive area of Birmingham or a v cheap area, how would you decide what should apply?

"The economy of the London metropolitan area generates about 30% of the UK's GDP" - Wiki.

@PurpleFlower1983 I actually agree. Myself and my partner grew up in London but in order to actually own our first home we have had to move to Hampshire (other side of M25 and down the M3 a bit)

It was either that or rent a crappy flat in London we would never have the chance of owning.

I think you do have a point with living costs being higher in one area than another, however I don't think what you are proposing is the answer at all.
Imo the answer is to cap rental prices for a start everywhere, and then maybe a premium of some description that employers have to make if within the boundaries of London so maybe 10% on top of any wage, including minimum wage (don't know if that's a feasible percentage) - didn't nurses used to get a London premium if they lived/worked within London?
You'd have to live AND work within the boundaries though.
I don't think the answer is removing money from northern workers tbh, travel is actually more expensive on a journey by journey basis where I live than in London, because it's semi rural and options are limited - which limits working options to start with.
Overall though I see your point YABU

The wage is paid from employers so where's your logic that by paying people less in the north they could pay more in the south. You realise it's not the government paying it?

Personally I think rent prices in the south are the issue. How people get away with charging so much is beyond me.

YABU. Massively.

Is London weighting still a thing?

Anyway... YABVU.

I’d like to live in a ‘lush’ house in Cornwall, preferably on the coast with a nice sea view.

But I can’t afford it so I don’t.

How is that any different than London? If you can’t afford it, you can’t have it. Simples.

Loads of companies already pay a bigger wage for working in london. I know Wetherspoons and Sainsburys definitely do

All employers will move up north. Good for us!

If you want to "spread the wealth" OP perhaps you need to think about decreasing the gap between those who are paid ridiculous amounts of money and those who are on the minimum wage.

Taxing the rich to pay the housing costs of people on the minimum wage would possibly feel a bit fairer to people living in Hull than paying them £8 less an hour than someone living in Wandsworth!

What we need is a decent living wage and for companies to have to pay this so that people don't need to rely on benefits. It makes me mad that so many people can't live on what they are paid so as a society we top up their wage through benefits while companies make huge profits for their shareholders and pay their directors obscene amounts of money.

You do know there are expensive places to live and work outside of London?!

Aberdeen for instance has had a shortage of NHS workers and teachers for years because of the cost of living and not receiving any weighting. In fact the midwife unit closed for nearly 6 months due to staff shortage!

Yes London weighing is a thing
15% inner
10% outer
5% fringe

It is impossible to escape the skyrocketing prices in a very wide radius outside London. Born somewhere, lived there all your life, kids go to school there, all your family and friends but I am supposed to move to Hull on my own to be able to afford a house? someone suggested this to me the other week. ‘Just move!’ as if moving your entire life 200 miles just to be able to afford housing is practical whatsoever for a lot of people. I can’t move as I have young DC and their father lives here

But I don’t agree this is the solution as it would be very unfair for 2 people in the same job to be paid differently due to where they live

The problem is rental prices

Housing benefit should be variable for local market, but a loaf of bread costs the same regardless of which Aldi you buy it in.
And rural people have to travel further to shops, adding cost. Less publicity c transport, fewer facilities like libraries & children centres.
So no, I don’t agree. People who are struggling really don’t need more pressure.

Two words, beginning and ending with F.

or....OR the government, both centrally and at regional levels could invest more in infrastructure OUTSIDE of London to make other cities attract some of the wealth and investment London currently enjoys.

^^This, rather than just focusing on London and fuck the ‘provinces’.

You’re basically describing the living wage, which people usually recommend should be regional. It’s very sensible. Work should comfortably pay enough to live on, and that’s obviously much more in London than in Hull.

The issue with the min wage is its too low everywhere at the moment.

Paying a higher minimum wage will reduce the cost of housing benefits, tax credits etc. It will put the onus on actually paying for the workforce onto the companies who employ them.

If you are able to rent a 2 bed flat and save then you are doing really well on minimum wage BitchQueen90.

here is a 2 bed flat in grotty area near me £1250 per month

How about employers pay everyone a decent wage?

How about everyone on here puts BBC1 on right now and watches the programme on Universal Credit? Low wages are a problem everywhere in the UK, not just London.

The north west has the highest levels of poverty in the country outside of inner city London.