More than a third of people living in Dundee are earning less than the living wage.
New figures reveal that there are almost twice as many Dundonians earning less than the living wage as throughout the whole of the rest of Scotland.
A report from Dundee’s Fairness Commission shows that a total of 34.7% of people living in the city are earning less than the £7.85 an hour — the figure for Scotland is 18.4%.
The report adds: “In 2014, almost 23% of people living in Dundee East were earning less than the living wage.
“This is higher than the Scottish figure of 18.4%, but a slight drop from the previous year.”
The report adds that in Dundee West, 11.8% of people were earning less than the living wage.
It continues: “Dundee has lower gross weekly pay levels across full and part time workers than in Scotland overall.
“The gross weekly pay for a full-time worker in Dundee is £467, compared to £518 for Scotland.”
It added that women were more likely than men to be in jobs where they earn less than the living wage.
Responding to the figures Dundee City Council’s chief executive, David Martin, said the local authority was committed to the policy of securing a living wage for city workers.
Speaking at a meeting of the Fairness Commission, Mr Martin said there was “no lack of willingness” at the local authority to adopt the living wage.
He added: “We want to be able to get to a place where we can get businesses accredited to pay that amount, but there are challenges and issues we have to deal with.
“We are on that journey now and talking with other groups to see how we can address these issues.
“We are completely committed to the policy and we are currently just wrestling with the contents.”
He said the council had already agreed to have an integrated approach to adopting a living wage policy and added: “We aim to work through the problem and come back with as much of a commitment as we can to this.”