Charities are being urged to raise salaries of their junior and entry level staff amid fears they “may struggle to afford necessities and maintain a healthy lifestyle”, according to a report into salaries in the sector.

The report by recruiter CharityJob has found that one in four entry level and junior roles offer salaries below the Living Wage, as calculated by the Living Wage Foundation. This stands at £12.60 outside of London and at £13.85 in the capital and is separate from the government’s National Living Wage, which has a lower rate.

The Living Wage Foundation’s rate is higher to reflect “the actual cost of living, covering essentials like food, housing and transport”, says CharityJob.

“While the median salary across all charity roles, both within and outside of London, met or exceeded the Living Wage, salaries for more junior roles deserve closer attention,” said the recruiter.

“This raises concerns, as it suggests some charity employees, especially those entering the workforce, may struggle to afford necessities and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

“Charities hiring for these roles should consider raising salaries to ensure their employees can thrive, both personally and professionally.”

CharityJob’s report also found that the median charity sector salary during 2024 was £35,000. This is up 3% on the pervious year, just above the average inflation rate of 2.5% during 2024.

Growth in remote and hybrid working

The analysis also found a decrease in on-site roles within charities being advertised amid continued growth of remote and hybrid working.

Overall in 2024 the number of jobs being advertised on CharityJob fell by a fifth compared to the previous year. But the number of on-site roles “had the most dramatic decrease with 30%”.

This reflects growing interest among charities in remote working as well as continued popularity among candidates for this way of working, which stepped up markedly across the job sector during and after the Covid pandemic.

“Remote roles were the most in demand from candidates, with more than seven times the number of clicks on ‘Apply’ than for on-site roles and four times more than for hybrid roles,” found CharityJob.

It says that the drop in roles being advertised overall has led to a “shift to a recruiter led market”. The number of people applying for roles increased by 56% last year. On average 61 people are applying for each role.

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