Fifth 'paid less than living wage'

By the number of people, London, as well as the North West and the South East are the most affected areas. Workers in the hospitality industry are the worst affected, with 90% of bar staff paid lower than the living wage. More than four out of five waiters were also paid less than the living wage.

Accountancy firm KPMG says that at a time of economic hardship, lower paid workers are feeling the impact hardest with more than 4 in 10 saying that their finances are worse now than they were just one month ago.

The living wage is a voluntary rate of pay that some employers give their staff. KPMG says that since 2001 it has positively impacted more than 10,000 employees and their families and redistributed over £96 million to some of the lowest paid workers in the UK.

Some 4.82 million UK workers receive less than the living wage - the rate of pay designed to help workers to afford a basic standard of living.

The rate is currently £8.30 an hour in London and £7.20 in the rest of the country, compared with the national minimum wage rate of £6.19 an hour