There has been a welcome increase in the number of universities that are paying a living wage, including those that have declared themselves to be “civic”.
However, it is still the case that the majority of HEIs are not accredited with the Living Wage Foundation, that a quarter of civic universities are not paying the living wage – including three that have developed a civic university agreement.
Only when all universities pay their lowest paid staff a living wage can the sector be considered to be truly civic.
When asked in a poll by People First in 2021, “What benefits do you think local universities bring to Greater Manchester?” 55 per cent of respondents chose “creating jobs and employing people”, second only to “training future professionals to work locally in key areas e.g. as teachers, doctors, nurses and engineers” (with 59 per cent of respondents).
