Rate of record
National Living Wage vs Real Living Wage
The NLW is the statutory minimum. The Real Living Wage is a voluntary higher rate set by the Living Wage Foundation. UK rate £13.45 from November 2025; London £14.80.
The headline rates
- National Living Wage (21+): £12.71/hr - statutory, from 1 April 2026gov.uk
- Real Living Wage (UK, voluntary): £13.45/hr - set November 2025 by the Living Wage Foundationlivingwage.org.uk
- London Living Wage (voluntary): £14.80/hr
Annual gap for a 37.5-hour worker
- UK RLW vs NLW: £1,443 more per year gross.
- London LLW vs NLW: £4,075 more per year gross.
Who pays it
Roughly 15,000 UK employers are voluntarily accredited Living Wage Employers, including most of the FTSE 100 service firms, every Scottish local authority, the GLA, and the majority of UK universities. The rate is paid to all directly employed staff and to third-party contracted staff working regularly on premises.
How the RLW is set
The Living Wage Foundation publishes a new RLW every November based on the Minimum Income Standard research from the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough Universitylivingwage.org.uk. The London rate sits about 10% above the UK figure to reflect London housing costs.