Sign up to our newsletter to get the latest on living wage and income  
Need help?

Step 2: Assess risk 2.3 Measure wage and income gaps

Identifying wage and income gaps is key in understanding the depth and extent of low wages and insufficient income in your supply chains. These requires a few key steps.

  • Collect verified information about salaries paid to workers in your company and your suppliers, and estimate the income earned by farmers.
  • Identify existing living wage and living income benchmarks relevant to your context.
  • Benchmark against other wage and income indicators to create a complete picture of the situation and visualise the wage and/or income gaps in your specific supply chains.

The concept of living wage refers specifically to hired workers (e.g. factory workers, farm labourers, etc.), whereas living income refers to income earners (e.g. self-employed farmers). The end goal of living wages and living income is the same: achieving a decent standard of living for families. The Anker Methodology is a well-respected approach, that can be used for estimating a living wage or living income, as the cost of living for a family is the same regardless of how income is earned. However, estimating current wages is a very different activity than calculating actual incomes.

Living wage

Living income