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From research for a forthcoming book on food retailers and CSR - In the recent Budget the UK Chancellor announced that the Minimum Wage is to rise from its present £6.50 an hour to a 'llving wage' of £7.20, and to rise to £9.00 an hour by 2020. The rise is scarcely omnerous, or generous; an annual increase over five years of ca. 7%. Nevertheless shares in major UK food retailers such as Morrison, Sainsbury, Tesco, lost 1% - 2% on the news, betraying their reliance on low paid labour. And this min wage is only for the over 25's, yougre workers can still be paid less. Now compare average UK property proices and rents now (now what they may be in 2020). Average UK rent is now £900 per calendar month. Average UK house price is now £195,000. The average over-25 shop worker on £7 / hour would have to work 130 hours a month and pay no tax or NI) to cover the average rent. They would have to work for 18 months and buy no food or pay rent or buy clothes or commuting or anything else to scrape together the 10% deposit on the average house, which will consume 15 years of their wages to buy outright, not including any interest on the mortgage they pay These are average accommodation costs - in large cities, where most supermarkets are located, prices will be even higher. How do London supermarket workers manage? Live in a caravan in Jaywick and cycle 70 miles to work? What happened to the idea of paying the labour force enough to replicate itself, i.e have children, bring up the next generation oif workers? Everybody needs to eat - as a food retailer it's really great economics to pay your workers too little to live and eat on. Dr Hillary J. Shaw Director and Senior Research Consultant Shaw Food Solutions Newport Shropshire TF10 8NB www.fooddeserts.org