MERSEYSIDE'S biggest employers have been urged to reward their lowest earners with a pay rise that would see each of them take home an extra £1,300 per year.

Liverpool city region's metro mayor Steve Rotheram has asked the region’s 50 largest firms to introduce the Real Living Wage after it was found 155,000 people – more than a quarter of the workforce – are paid less.

The Real Living Wage for 2018/19 is set to be £9 per hour for over 25s – £1.17 higher than the current £7.83 paid as the government’s National Living Wage.

A report published recently by the Smith Institute showed paying the Real Living Wage to just a quarter of those would mean a one-off dividend to the local economy of £30m and an ongoing £10m a year boost – as well as raising those individuals’ annual income significantly.

Mayor Rotheram said: “It used to be the case that the best cure for poverty was finding a job but that is no longer true. It is a national scandal that one in eight people in work are living in poverty.

“Paying the Real Living Wage is not just the right thing to do, there are significant benefits for individuals, businesses and the wider economy.

“93% of companies who have introduced the Real Living Wage say it has benefited their business and research has shown that paying just a quarter of those who currently don’t receive the Real Living Wage would boost the city region’s economy by £30m as a one-off, and by £10m every year from then on.”

The Real Living Wage was devised by the Living Wage Foundation charity, which argues the government’s National Living Wage is not high enough to meet workers’ needs, and encourages employers to adopt its more generous, independently calculated rate.

The Liverpool City Region became the first combined authority in the country to become a Real Living Wage employer last year.