Unlike the minimum wage, the living wage is not legally binding, but is based on the cost of living.
The Living Wage Foundation, which sets the rate each year, last week raised it by 25p an hour to £7.45 outside London and £8.55 in the capital.
An analysis of staff salaries by Kids Allowed, which runs four nurseries in the Manchester area, reveals that 48 per cent of staff are paid more than £7.45 an hour and 'most considerably more'; 41 per cent are paid above the minimum wage, and 11 per cent of staff who are in training are on the minimum wage. Once trainees have completed their Level 2 training at the group's newly opening training academy they move up the pay scales and no qualified staff are on the minimum wage.
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