Priority 2
Work and wages
Work and mental health are inextricably linked. Work is good for our mental health, but being unemployed, or in a challenging work environment, can have a significant negative impact on our well-being. Likewise, being on low or insecure wages causes stress and anxiety that can undermine our mental health.
The pandemic had a devastating effect on the economy and businesses and services across the United Kingdom. In 2020, the UK experienced the most significant decline in GDP since the 1920s. Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, the proportion of adults in Great Britain who found it difficult or very difficult to pay usual household bills doubled from 5 per cent to 11 per cent.
These developments exacerbate significant challenges in London, where poverty is already higher than in any other region or country in the UK.
Through the community listening campaign, we heard about the huge impact on work and wages because of the pandemic. We heard from people in minimum wage jobs of how their hours had been cut leaving them unable to provide for their families.
Our survey found that one-in-three people have been affected by job insecurity (38 per cent) and a similar proportion are struggling to pay the bills (34 per cent).
As well as financial insecurity, income loss, and unemployment we also heard about the stress and anxiety caused by increased workloads and trying to manage a work/life balance in new working environments.
What our communities
asked for:
NHS to:
2.1 Work towards accrediting all Mental Health Trusts in South London as Living Wage employers
2.2 Champion the Living Wage within the health sector more widely, including encouraging GP surgeries, Clinical Commissioning Groups and hospitals to accredit as Living Wage employers
Local authorities to:
2.3 Accredit as a Living Wage employer, and if you’ve already done this as a Living Hours employer
2.4 Develop a Living Wage Places scheme in your borough
What we are doing:
Promoting the Living Wage across South London
NHS and local authority partners across South London have committed to working towards becoming Living Wage Employers. Some of our partners are more advanced in this work – for example South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust became a living wage employer in February 2020.
Over the next two years, we will work to celebrate advances already made and understand the feasibility and timescale to make more progress. Our ambition is that every Trust and local authority in south London will be a living wage employer. Where Trusts and local authorities are not Living Wage accredited, we will go through the following steps:
Ensure senior leaders in each institution are on board with achieving accreditation and paying the Living Wage. Nominate a member of staff in each institution to lead on accreditation
Enquire with the Living Wage Foundation to receive guidance on setting up and scheduling milestones
Ensure all directly employed staff are paid the Living Wage
Identify all relevant third-party contracts that are not paid at the Living Wage, setting target delivery dates for implementation
Build the Living Wage into all terms and conditions and future supplier communications
Submit approved milestones and Living Wage agreement to the Living Wage Foundation
Once accredited: we will celebrate and communicate our Living Wage Employer accreditation with our internal and external networks, including displaying the Living Wage Employer logo and Living Wage plaque, and appearing on the Living Wage Foundation’s interactive map of Living Wage Employers
“This cruel pandemic has affected so many of the people we serve in different ways. We must ensure that our response is just as comprehensive and that it addresses both the mental health problems many have experienced and the underlying issues contributing to those problems. We all hope this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience so if anyone was ever going to get involved in helping to plan local services.”
— David Bradley, Chief Executive of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust