Living wage confirmed in Doha as critical for social progress

As the Second World Summit for Social Development draws to a close, world leaders have formally recognised living wage as a cornerstone of decent work. This marks both a milestone in our advocacy and a renewed call for action around the world.  

Paying a living wage is one of the most powerful actions any business can take to tackle inequality.   

It provides people with the essentials they need for themselves and their families. It opens up greater access to healthcare and education across societies. And it’s smart business. When people earn a decent living, they’re more motivated and productive. Supply chains become stronger and more resilient. And as more people can afford essential goods, consumer markets grow.  

Social Summit sees breakthrough for living wage   

This week, at the UN’s Second World Summit for Social Development, we saw a major step forward in the global movement towards living wages.   

The Doha Political Declaration saw signatory countries committing to making living wage a core focus of their national decent work agendas for the very first time.   

By embedding living wage into this global framework, policymakers are sending a clear signal that fair pay isn’t just a social aspiration – it’s an economic necessity.   

Why this milestone matters  

The inclusion of living wage in the Summit’s declaration is far more than a symbolic success. It’s a call to action.   

At Unilever, our ambition is to ensure that everyone who directly provides goods and services to our business earns a decent livelihood, including through earning a living wage.   

Policy directives like this give us, and others, a stronger mandate to work with local governments to review pay-setting mechanisms and raise minimum wages toward living wage levels. When governments raise the floor, it becomes easier for businesses to act without putting themselves at a competitive disadvantage.  

Paving the way for change 

Having living wages highlighted as a key focus for governments has taken years of advocacy and partnership. Unilever has worked with the International Labour Organization (ILO), UN Global Compact (UNGC) Forward Faster initiative, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the Sustainable Trade Initiative – IDH, World Benchmarking Alliance and AIM-Progress to push for a level playing field where every company is encouraged – and enabled – to pay a living wage. This included a joint call to action to UN member states, urging them to highlight the importance of living wages in the Doha Declaration.  

We also engaged with the ILO as it created a global definition of living wage – and co-funded the WageIndicator Foundation’s work to make the living wage data of over 180 countries freely available. More than 800 companies have now committed through UNGC Forward Faster Initiative to paying a living wage.    

From principles to local practice 

As well as acting to create policy change, we’ve been working to gather evidence of the value of paying a living wage.   

We recently completed impact studies in Pakistan and the Philippines. As well as providing real-life examples of how paying a living wage is feasible and economically advantageous, these give local businesses real data to help show the value of change to peers, suppliers and governments.  

In Pakistan, we spoke to over 800 distributor sales representatives and merchandisers who had moved to a living wage in 2023. After a year, 90% of the merchandisers said they were more satisfied with their job, and 70% said their quality of life had improved. Among sales representatives, growth rose by around 9% and productivity increased 6% over a 12-month period.  

In the Philippines we assessed the gap between current pay and living wage across two suppliers and modelled the benefits of closing it. Results showed that paying a living wage could reduce workforce turnover by 21%, raise productivity by 6.6% and positively impact the national economy.   

We shared these findings with government, businesses, trade unions and NGOs in the Philippines earlier this year. This contributed to a broader dialogue that coincided with the national House of Representatives voting on a national minimum wage increase, the first in more than 35 years.  

What comes next?  

The Doha Declaration codifies the importance of paying a living wage. Now, it’s time for action – from governments, supply chains, and both global and local businesses.  

At Unilever, we’re continuing to build momentum in this critical area. We’re creating coalitions of like-minded local businesses. We’re sharing tools and evidence showing the benefits and learnings of living wage implementation. And we’re supporting governments as they turn global commitments into local policies that work for everyone.