Living Wage

Definition

Living Wage — A wage sufficient to meet a worker's basic needs in their location.

A living wage covers food, housing, transport, healthcare, education and a small discretionary margin for a worker and their dependants in a specific city or region. It is typically 30–200% higher than the legal minimum wage in garment-producing countries.

The Anker Methodology and the Global Living Wage Coalition publish benchmarks. Fair Wear Foundation, Fair Trade USA, and Fairtrade International audit suppliers against living-wage progress. A "fair wages" claim with no benchmark cited is usually paying minimum wage.

Related terms

Vegan
Contains no animal-derived ingredients and no animal byproducts.
Cruelty-Free
Neither the finished product nor its ingredients were tested on animals.
B Corp
A for-profit company independently verified to meet high social and environmental standards.
USDA Organic
U.S. federal certification for food and farming free from synthetic pesticides, GMOs, and irradiation.

Using Living Wage without overreading the claim

A wage sufficient to meet a worker's basic needs in their location.

This term is not, by itself, proof of a certified product. Its meaning may depend on a technical definition, local rules or the boundaries of a particular claim.

Separate the question the term addresses from questions it does not answer. Material sourcing, labour conditions, chemical safety and disposal need different evidence. Catalogue labels are a starting point for checking that evidence, not a substitute for it.

Living Wage: verification guide

CheckActionLimitation
DefinitionAsk what the term means in this claimTechnical concepts and marketing promises are different
BoundaryIdentify materials, locations and stages coveredA claim about one component cannot describe the whole lifecycle
EvidenceRequest methods, assumptions and dated supporting documentsA claim can need evidence without having a dedicated certifier

Before relying on Living Wage

  • DefinitionAsk what the term means in this claim
  • BoundaryIdentify materials, locations and stages covered
  • EvidenceRequest methods, assumptions and dated supporting documents

Frequently asked

What does Living Wage mean?+

A wage sufficient to meet a worker's basic needs in their location.

How can I check a Living Wage claim?+

Ask what the term means in this claim. Identify materials, locations and stages covered. Request methods, assumptions and dated supporting documents.