Capital improvement: A proposal for a new in-work poverty benchmark for London employers

WHY DOES LONDON NEED A NEW BENCHMARK?

• The first stage of this project drew attention to the scale of the in-work poverty problem in London, what drives it, and the impact it has on workers, their families, and wider society. It found that there is significant concern about in-work poverty among businesses and an appetite among many to contribute to tackling it.
• These reports concluded that benchmarks can be a useful tool for incentivising businesses to take action to tackle in-work poverty, both amongst their own workers and those of their suppliers.
• This report proposes a new in-work poverty benchmark that builds on existing accreditations while focusing specifically on in-work poverty, incentivising businesses to expand their anti in-work poverty efforts in a measurable and cumulative way.

THE SMF’S PROPOSED BENCHMARK

• The benchmark we have developed is the result of wide-ranging and lengthy consultation with a range of stakeholders, all overseen by an expert advisory panel consisting of businesses, academics, and public sector organisations.
• It is structured around three ‘domains of action’ or ‘buckets’, based on the key drivers of in-work poverty: pay and conditions, the cost of living and resilience.
• We have proposed that the benchmark should have three tiers, offering employers a low barrier to entry while laying out a clear pathway for businesses to follow to build on their efforts to tackle in-work poverty.
• We believe the scheme should be accompanied by a wider set of complementary measures including awareness raising efforts about in-work poverty, a framework for supporting employers to adopt the benchmark and robust assessment of companies’ adherence to the standard to ensure its rigour.
• If you would like to discuss any aspect of the benchmark’s design, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Richard Hyde (Senior Researcher, richard@smf.co.uk) or Jake Shepherd (Senior Researcher, jake@smf.co.uk).

You can find links to the other reports published as part of this project here. With ongoing sponsorship from Trust for London, the Living Wage Foundation will be leading on a new phase of the benchmark development process with continued SMF involvement, exploring how we might transform the benchmark into a practical business tool. We expect this next stage to commence in late 2024.