Wages of low-paid workers rise 32% in 8 years

LOW-PAID workers have received a massive boost with inflation-busting pay rises since Labour was last in power, Tory MPs said yesterday.

As the National Living Wage rose yesterday to £7.83 an hour, they pointed out that the new figure represented a rise of 32 per cent since 2010.

Under Gordon Brown, low-paid workers got only £5.93 an hour under the old minimum wage.

Chris Philp, Tory MP for Croydon South, said during the same period inflation had gone up by 19 per cent.

“So someone on the minimum wage has had a net pay increase at nearly double the rate of inflation with a Conservative government,” he added.

Poverty

The change was part of the reforms brought in by former Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith aimed at “making work pay”.

Despite receiving criticism from Labour for reforming the welfare system to encourage people to get back into work, he insisted the best way out of poverty is to work and stop relying on benefits.

The introduction of the National Living Wage by the Tories in 2016 for people over 25 followed the setting of a household benefits cap of £23,000.

Previously, some households had been able to claim more than £100,000 in housing benefit alone.

The increase in the National Living Wage came in yesterday as part of the Budget announcements made by Chancellor Philip Hammond last November.