Young people to get largest rise in National Minimum Wage in a decade

The largest increase in a decade in National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates for 18-20 and 21-24 year olds has been announced today.

The government has accepted all the recommendations by the Low Pay Commission (LPC), the body that recommends the rates of the NMW and the National Living Wage (NLW), with the new rates expected to boost the earnings of between 260,000-360,000 young workers.

This means on 1 April 2018 these rates will increase by 4.7% to £7.38 for 21-24 year olds, and 5.4% to £5.90 for 18-20 year olds. These are greater percentage increases than both that of the National Living Wage, which will increase by 4.4%, and forecast average earnings growth of between 2.5%-3%.

The LPC has recommended slightly lower increases for 16-17 year olds at 3.7%, from £4.05 to £4.20, because earnings and employment chances have not improved as fast as for the other age groups. But while this increase is lower, it is still the highest in 10 years for this age group.

LPC chair Bryan Sanderson said: "The LPC is pleased that the government has accepted our recommendations to increase the NMW rates for young people. Many thousands will benefit directly and thousands more will benefit from the increases to the NLW."

The government also accepted the LPC's recommendation for the NLW to increase to £7.83 in April 2018 from its current rate of £7.50.

The National Minimum Wage and National Living Wages are separate from the real living wage, which is set by the Living Wage Foundation, not the Government.

Minimum wage rise set to increase pressure on hospitality firms >>

Real living wage rise could increase pressure on hospitality businesses >>

National Living Wage: are staff getting a fair deal? >>

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