National Theatre gains real Living Wage accreditation

The National Theatre has said it hopes to encourage positive change across the performing arts sector after becoming a real Living Wage Employer.

Based on the cost of living, the real Living Wage is a voluntary pay rate for employers calculated annually by the Resolution Foundation and overseen by the Living Wage Commission. It currently stands at £13.15 an hour for London and £12 an hour in the rest of the UK, and is due to be updated on 23 October.

To become living wage employers, organisations must pay the rate both to all directly employed staff over the age of 18 as well as third-party staff such as cleaners, security guards and caterers. This rate is higher than the government's National Living Wage of £11.44, which is based on median earnings and only applies to workers aged 21 and over. 

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The National Theatre, one of the country’s leading performance venues and recipient of Arts Council England’s third-largest annual National Portfolio grant, joins other notable London theatres, Shakespeare’s Globe and The Old Vic, in signing up to the scheme, which now includes more than 100 performing arts organisations.

Laura Friedner, Director of People at the National Theatre, said the theatre hopes that gaining formal accreditation will help encourage positive change across the industry.

According to the Living Wage Foundation, arts, entertainment and recreation is the second lowest-paid sector in the UK after hospitality, with nearly a quarter of all jobs paid below the real Living Wage.

"We hope this step will demonstrate to all our employees, whether they are contracted, inhouse, outsourced or freelance, that we are committed to fair pay,” said Friedner.

Recruitment cost savings

Terese Baker, Head of People and Culture at Norwich Theatre, which has been shortlisted for a Living Wage Champion Award after becoming accredited in 2023, said that joining the scheme had been well received by staff, leading to business benefits and an 8% increase in employee engagement survey scores.

Baker said: “As an organisation overall, our voluntary turnover has halved since we became a Living Wage Employer. This has been even more marked in our hospitality area, which has reduced by nearly two-thirds.

“This has led to significant recruitment cost savings. We have also seen an improvement in the standard of applicants to Norwich Theatre.”

Exacerbating existing inequalities

Writing in Arts Professional in July, Lianna Etkind, Partnerships & Campaigns Manager at the Living Wage Foundation, called for the government to embed the real Living Wage into funding and investment agreements to help grow the creative economy, noting that Scotland already includes paying the real Living Wage as a condition of receiving taxpayer money.

"At a time when the importance of placemaking is recognised as never before, cultural organisations that are Living Wage employers are making a statement that their presence benefits the place they’re in. That in creating good jobs for local people, they are serving their community," said Etkind.

"The risk? That without the real Living Wage embedded into the creative economy, creative growth will simply exacerbate existing inequalities."