British firms must commit to paying a living wage throughout their overseas supply chain, not just in the UK, according to anti-poverty charity War on Want and two partner organisations.

War on Want is backed in this call by the National Garment Workers Federation in Bangladesh and charity Labour Behind the Label, as Living Wage Week in the UK starts today.

A series of recent reports from Labour Behind the Label, ‘Let’s Clean Up Fashion’, named 29 high-profile brands which “have denied workers producing their clothes enough pay for decent food, housing, education for their children and healthcare”.

War on Want international programmes officer Laia Blanch said: “It is time to end the race to the bottom in pay and conditions. People everywhere are demanding a living wage. It would be good for the economy, good for society and its time has come.”

According to recent research by KPMG, one in five workers in the UK – some 4.82m people – are paid less than a living wage.