Cost of Living Increases Push Living Wage to €15.40 per hour in 2025/26
The Living Wage Technical Group, of which Social Justice Ireland is a member, has today published the updated Living Wage for 2025/26 of €15.40 per hour. The new rate reflects a 4.4 per cent increase from last year’s rate of €14.75. This rate is the minimum income required for a single adult working full-time to achieve a socially acceptable minimum standard of living in Ireland. The new Living Wage rate is €1.90 above the current National Minimum Wage of €13.50 per hour.
Addressing low pay remains a key challenge for Irish society. As we have continuously highlighted, based on data from the CSO’s Survey in Income and Living Conditions, Social Justice Ireland estimates that 140,000 people in employment are living in poverty (the working poor). Improvements in the low pay rates received by many employees offer an important method by which these levels of poverty and exclusion can be reduced.
The Living Wage rate is based on the rationale that full-time employment will at least provide for a socially acceptable minimum standard of living for a single person without dependents. It represents the minimum required to meet physical, social and psychological needs, and enable a life with dignity. Having an income below this standard of living means doing without goods and services which are essential for taking part in the norms of everyday life in Ireland.
The Living Wage is the minimum hourly pay required for a full-time worker (without dependents) to afford the goods and services that people have agreed are essential for enabling a basic, yet decent, standard of living. Its calculation by the Living Wage Technical Group (LWTG) is evidence-based, building on budget standards research undertaken by the Vincentian MESL Research Centre at SVP, and reflects the real costs faced by employees in Ireland. The change to the annual Living Wage rate is determined by changes in these living costs and income taxes.
Paying low-paid employees a Living Wage offers the prospect of significantly improving the living standards of these employees. Social Justice Ireland has supported the emergence of this concept over recent years, and we hope to see this new benchmark adopted across many sectors of society in the years to come.
Over the past year, minimum living costs increased by 5.8% for a working-age single adult. Rising rents contributed two thirds of the change, increasing by almost €20 per week (9.3%). Increases in food, home energy and insurance costs together account for a further fifth of the growth in the cost of living. While the cost of clothing fell partially offsetting some of the other increases.
The rise in the Living Wage is entirely driven by the cost of living. Rents and other basic costs keep going up and the lowest paid workers risk being left behind unless their wages go up to the same extent. Since 2020, the cost of living for a working age single adult have risen by over €120 per week (29%). While policy measures have limited the potential growth in the wage needed to meet the rising cost of living, the gap between the real Living Wage and National Minimum Wage remains substantial.
Social Justice Ireland are again calling on Government to raise the National Minimum Wage to the level of the Living Wage if workers on the lowest pay are to have adequate incomes. Year after year Government has failed to increase the National Minimum Wage enough to provide a Living Wage. Budget 2026 will be announced next week, the first Budget of the new term of Government, now is the time to ensure workers earn a wage that provides enough to cover basic living costs.
To learn more about the Living Wage visit www.livingwage.ie.