Making Living Wages Mainstream

We believe that living wage is a key element in solving several of today's social development challenges, from reducing inequality to advancing human rights and driving economic empowerment.

IDH is focusing its efforts across global platforms, advocating for living wages to be recognised as an essential pillar of sustainable economic progress. Through strategic partnerships, sector-wide collaboration, and practical tools, IDH is helping turn commitment into action, supporting companies, governments, and civil society in embedding living wages into global value chains.

Why living wages matter

Global inequality is rising, undermining progress on social development, social cohesion, and human rights. Recent evidence, including the World Social Report 2025 and the World Inequality Report 2026, shows that income and wealth gaps continue to widen, while nearly 60% of workers worldwide face employment insecurity.

The ILO’s Global Employment and Social Trends 2026 report further highlights that 284 million workers still live in extreme poverty (less than US$3 per day). Together, these trends threaten inclusive growth, social stability, and the global commitment to leave no one behind.

Against this backdrop, living wages are one of the most practical, action-oriented responses to rising inequality, linking decent work, poverty reduction, and economic resilience.

Read our article exploring the evidence and what it means for living wages.

Broad investor support for Living Wages

Investors are stepping up pressure on global corporates to take meaningful action on living wages and living incomes. In a letter backed by 53 signatories, the Platform Living Wage Financials is calling on companies to act on living wages and living incomes, targeting firms that haven't yet engaged. This is a bold and welcome shift. When investors managing over EUR 8 trillion speak with one voice, they can change what's possible in boardrooms everywhere. Living wages and living incomes have too often been treated as someone else's responsibility. This letter helps dismantle that thinking. It shows that the people who allocate capital see decent compensation as core to how business should work.

Lasting change requires pressure and support from multiple directions at once. Companies, governments, civil society, and now investors, are acting together rather than in isolation. By deliberately targeting companies, the letter helps widen the circle of accountability beyond those already acting on living wage and incomes, towards the much larger group of companies that have yet to act.

From commitment to implementation: What works

Evidence increasingly shows what is possible when action is coordinated:

In banana-producing countries, multi-stakeholder initiatives have raised wages for thousands of workers.
Across Europe, retailers are adjusting purchasing and sourcing practices to help close living wage gaps in their supply chains.
In agricultural sectors such as sugarcane, collective bargaining and employer engagement have contributed to measurable wage improvements and safer working conditions.

Living wages as a human rights and resilience imperative

Human rights are a core driver of business resilience. If we want resilient supply chains and fair outcomes for people, living wages must be at the centre.

Read more about the joint work by the UN Global Compact and IDH as long-term partners in driving industry-wide progress on living wages in this article.

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Ensuring a living wage is both a fundamental human right and a strategic investment in stronger, more resilient businesses. When companies put people at the center of their operations, they unlock productivity, loyalty, and sustainable growth. Leading on living wages means leading the way forward faster.

Chris Kip– Head, Social Sustainability at UN Global Compact

Living wages for socio-economic development

The discussion around the living wage concept has gained global momentum, influencing policies and shaping business strategies in meaningful ways. During a recent webinar, the World Benchmarking Alliance and IDH explored how the concept of living wages has evolved, the key initiatives driving it forward and where it’s headed next.

Watch the webinar, and hear from speakers as Charlotte Bernard, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands; Fransje Putts, MN (Platform for Living Wage Financials) Marina Leal, Natura & Co.; Matteo Squire, Unilever; and Maurice van Beers, CNV about their insights on this growing movement.

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In general, human rights issues are hard to quantify. In finance, there’s a lot of focus on numbers, and living wages are one of the few human rights topics that can actually be quantified. This helps everyone to work toward the same goal. Being able to quantify living wages also provides a measure of what companies are doing and shows where the gaps for a broader implementation of human rights are.

Fransje Puts– Client Manager & Advisor Responsible Investment at MN

IDH works with diverse sectors to drive action and shares knowledge to enable global collaboration.

Keep living wages on the global agenda

Building on the recognition of living wages within the Doha Political Declaration as essential for raising living standards and promoting inclusive growth, WBA and IDH, alongside partners including the United Nations Global Compact, the Business Commission to Tackle Inequality, Unilever, Shift, and the Platform Living Wage Financials, will continue working to keep living wages on the global agenda and move from commitment to implementation. We invite all stakeholders, from businesses and investors to policymakers and civil society, to stand with us. 

Support the call to action.

Find us at our next living wage event:

Living Wage & Living Income Summit, the Netherlands

Join us for the Living Wage and Living Income Summit 2026, where attendees from over 200 companies from across the value chain, from retail to brands, to processors and traders, to producers and farmers, come together.

At IDH, we believe that living wage is a key element in solving several of today's social development challenges, from reducing inequality to advancing human rights and driving economic empowerment. Achieving living wages is not just a goal but a shared responsibility. We work closely with businesses, civil society, and international organisations like the ILO and UN Global Compact to advance living wages on the global stage and to create lasting positive impact on workers' livelihoods. From agriculture to aquaculture, we support companies on the ground with practical tools, tailored guidance, and local-to-global convening. Our role is not to claim answers, but to help turn commitment into action.

Check the Living Wage Roadmap for more information.

Driving the living wage agenda: IDH’s commitment to making living wages mainstream