Scot workers are getting a pay increase as the real living wage rises to £12.

The 10% pay boost will see more than 64,000 workers better off to help tackle inflation.

Over 3,400 Scottish employers are Living Wage accredited, meaning a rise for 64,200 workers.

It comes as 460,000 Living Wage workers are set for a pay boost at 14,000 Living Wage employers across the UK.

The real Living Wage rates remain the only wage rates independently calculated based on what people need to live on.

This year the rate increased by 10.1% in the UK, reflecting persistently high costs and levels of financial hardship for low paid workers.

Recent research by the Living Wage Foundation shows that despite inflation easing, the cost-of-living crisis is far from over for Britain’s 3.5m low paid workers, with 60% having used a food bank in the past year and 39% regularly skipping meals for financial reasons.

Unlike the Government minimum wage, which is the ‘National Living Wage’ for over 23’s at £10.42, the real Living Wage is the only wage rate independently calculated based on rising living costs and applies to everyone over 18.

A full-time worker earning the new, real Living Wage would earn £3,085 a year more than a worker earning the current government minimum (NLW), and £2,145 more than their current pay.

Peter Kelly, Director at the Poverty Alliance, said: “Paying the Living Wage has always been about doing the right thing. People living on the lowest incomes are being squeezed hardest by high prices for essentials like food, housing and energy, so it’s never been more important that employers commit to at least the real Living Wage to help release the grip of poverty in Scotland.

“Today as the Living Wage rate rises, we commend the leadership of over 3,400 Living Wage employers in Scotland and call on many more to pay the Living Wage and become accredited. We all need an income that is enough to cover our needs and protect us from poverty, and it’s only right that employers play their part by paying a wage that covers the cost of living.”

Lynn Anderson, Living Wage Scotland Manager said: “More employers across Scotland are joining the Living Wage employer movement because they recognise that a Living Wage commitment is a necessary and sensible investment in their workforce.

"By supporting workers to cover their everyday needs with a real Living Wage, employers benefit through improvements in staff recruitment and retention, and a healthier, happier and more motivated workforce.

"We hope more employers will consider Living Wage employer accreditation as an important action to support workers and their families to thrive”.

Gavin Ampleford, Operations Director at GavHas Ltd, said: “We are all too aware of the rising living costs that are affecting everyone. We want to provide everything we can to our staff to make sure that they all stay afloat.

"We believe paying the real Living Wage is a moral obligation, and we urge all businesses to do this.”