KPMG calculate actual cost of nationwide Living Wage

With speculation rife that Wednesday’s budget will see George Osbourne announce incentives for companies that pay the Living Wage, KPMG has calculated the actual impact of a national adoption of the Living Wage.

The Living Wage is set at £7.85 an hour, or £9.15 in London.

The report, The Living Wage: an economic impact assessment, said that paying the Living Wage would only add 1.3% to the national bill. It would also bring in an additional £4.5billion in taxes and reduced benefit claims.

Marianne Fallon, Head of Corporate Affairs at KPMG, said: "We firmly believe that voluntary adoption of a Living Wage policy by employers, over time, is one of the tools that will help improve social mobility in the UK as well as directly addressing in-work poverty.