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).

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.