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divdiv class=story-body readability=50 span class=story-date#13; span class=date2 November 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time22:25 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1Some of Britain's lowest-paid workers could get pay rises under plans drawn up by Labour leader Ed Miliband./p#13; pIf the party wins the next election, Mr Miliband plans to offer firms a 12-month tax break in 2016 if they agree to pay the so-called living wage./p#13; pThe pledge was cautiously welcomed by business groups, but there were fears many firms would find it unaffordable./p#13; pThe plans were unveiled as a study showed those not earning a living wage increased by 8% in the last year./p#13; pThe living wage is an informal benchmark based on the a href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20204594amount an individual needs to earn to cover the basic costs of living/a. It is set at £8.55 an hour in London and £7.45 an hour in the rest of the UK./p#13; pThe national minimum wage, set by the chancellor, is significantly lower at £6.31 an hour for adults, and £5.03 for those aged 18 to 21./p#13; span class=cross-head'Growth without prosperity'/span#13; pUnder the proposals put forward by Mr Miliband, private firms would be able to claim back about a third of the cost of raising their staff-members' wages to the living wage - amounting to £445 on average per worker, although it could potentially reach £1,000./p#13; pLabour claims the plan will save money because benefit bills would go down and tax revenues would increase./p#13; div class=story-feature narrow#13; a class=hidden href=#story_continues_2Continue reading the main story/a h2 class=quote“spanStart Quote/span/h2#13;blockquote readability=1p class=first-childTo those who say we can't afford to do anything about wages in our country today: I say we can't afford not to”/p/blockquote#13;span class=endquoteEnd Quote/span#13; span class=quote-creditEd Miliband/span#13; span class=quote-credit-titleLabour leader/span#13;#13; /div p id=story_continues_2But costs to businesses would rise as a result of signing up. And those that do so could only claim the money back for one year./p#13; pThe announcement comes ahead of a speech on Tuesday in which Mr Miliband is expected to say that tackling low wages is key to solving squeezed living standards./p#13; pHe is expected to warn that Britain risks an era of growth without prosperity as wages stagnate while household costs continue to rise./p#13; pFor ordinary families to keep up, we don't need average wages to just creep higher than prices. That will still leave millions of people worse off. We need the kind of strong increases in wages that will genuinely make people all across Britain better off, he is to say./p#13; pWages for millions of families have been stagnant or in decline for far too long now./p#13; pHe will add: Low wages aren't just bad for working people and their families. They are driving up the social security bill too, as the country has to subsidise more and more low paid jobs with tax credits and benefits. /p#13; pSo to those who say we can't afford to do anything about wages in our country today: I say we can't afford not to./p#13; pBBC political correspondent Robin Brant said the living wage was not a Labour idea but it had broad support, including from many outside politics. /p#13; #13; pKatja Hall, chief policy director for the Confederation of British Industry, said the scheme may help some firms pay more, but many companies simply could not afford it./p#13; pThe best way to boost wage growth in the longer term is to build a sustainable recovery and invest in the productivity growth that will boost wages, she said./p#13; pThe Federation of Small Businesses said it was an interesting proposition but said a national insurance exemption next year could help firms increase pay sooner. /p#13; span class=cross-head'Hard work pays'/span#13; pThe Living Wage Foundation, which campaigns for the minimum wage to be set according to the cost of living, said paying the higher rates was necessary./p#13; pRhys Moore, the group's director, said: With working poverty on the rise, paying a living wage is becoming a must for every responsible employer. We are working with businesses across the UK to help them do the right thing, so that from the chief executive to the cleaner, hard work pays./p#13; pUpdated living wage rates are due to be announced on Monday. The UK rate will be announced by Bishop of Nottingham Paul Butler, while the London rate will be set out by London Mayor Boris Johnson./p#13; pIt comes as it emerged the number of people paid less than the living wage grew from 4.8 million to 5.2 million in the last 12 months, according to KPMG. /p#13; pAnd the number of children living in households earning less than the living wage has increased from 1.82 million to 1.96 million, according to research by Save the Children./p#13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center