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Mayor Boris Johnson has raised the London Living Wage to £7.60 an hour - up 2% as a report said the capital has the highest poverty rate in the UK. The voluntary increased minimum wage has long been trumped by City Hall as a fair reflection of the cost of living and working in London. Unions agree that the £5.73 national minimum wage, which is 35% less than the LLW, is not enough to ensure a 'living wage' in the capital. With the year on year retail price index currently running at -1.2 per cent, this provides a real increase in income of over 3 per cent for low paid Londoners. Mr Johnson called the wage "fair decent" and "morally right" Megan Dobney, Regional Secretary for the TUC in London said the increase "goes some way to reflect the reality for many thousands of London's low paid workers." Highest poverty rates in UK Today’s announcement follows the recent launch of the ‘London’s Poverty Profile’ report. It found that the capital has the highest rates of poverty of any region in the country, with both inner and outer London having significantly higher rates of families in poverty than nationally, including many families that have at least one worker. Few councils implement it Just four councils out of 33 are implementing Mayor Boris Johnson's 'London Living Wage'. However, local authorities both Tory and Labour seem to disagree. Green Party member of the London Assembly, Darren Johnson called it a "disgrace". 29 organisations across London, at Greater London Authority, where 2,000 staff benefit and leading private sector employers like Barclays Bank, have implemented the London Living Wage since its launch in 2005.
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