Liveable incomes to Climate action

September 1st marks the annual adjustment date for employers who pay a living wage.

The Living Wage is the hourly wage a worker needs, to pay for the necessities of life and participate as an active citizen in the community. It reflects the basic expenses of workers and their families such as food, transportation, housing and childcare, and is calculated independently each year by the New Zealand Family Centre Social Policy Unit.

In 2021 the rate is $22.75, a 65 cent per hour increase. For a full time worker that is $1352 a year.

For Go Eco Manager Jo Wrigley, paying a minimum of the Living Wage is an excellent expression of values and the wellbeing of the team and their families. “We’re a not-for-profit charitable organisation which relies on contestable funding, donations and income from enterprise to fund our work; we are delighted that these are shared values amongst philanthropic funders”.

As an employer and as Manu Taki with the Waikato Wellbeing movement we believe that liveable incomes are the first ingredient to widespread community engagement in climate action.

Go Eco have a vision of healthy environments supported by thriving communities. They run a local food rescue service (Kaivolution) which picks up perfectly edible food from supermarkets, food producers and orchards and distributes it to community organisations and Free-Stores around the region.

Established in 2014 as a solution to food waste, they’ve found their sector increasingly being treated as a solution to food insecurity, a problem they say is a result of income inequality. Food rescue is at best a short term solution to hunger, systemic change is required if we want to truly address the issue.

The UN describes food security as access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life.

“What we know from local research is that the first thing people give up when they’re trying to make ends meet is food. If we can ensure people have liveable incomes, we can move towards food security and of course that starts with our own employees first”.

The Waikato Wellbeing movement is a regional initiative to achieve a more environmentally sustainable, prosperous and inclusive Waikato region by 2030.

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