Pay boost from National Living Wage increase

WORKERS on the National Living Wage will get a pay rise of up to £345 next year, the Chancellor announced.

Rishi Sunak said he had decided to accept in full the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission to increase both the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage.

Two million people on the lowest pay will benefit, with the National Living Wage increasing by 2.2 per cent from £8.72 to £8.91 per hour from April 2021, which will apply to all those aged 23 and over. Mr Sunak said the changes would mean that the annual earnings of a fulltime worker on the NLW would have increased by £4,030 since its introduction in April 2016. The Chancellor said:

“We do want to do more for the lowestpaid. These minimum wage increases will likely benefit around two million people.”

The National Minimum Wage for 21 to 22-year-olds will go up by 2 per cent from £8.20 to £8.36 per hour; 18 to 20-year- olds will have a 1.7 per cent increase from £6.45 to £6.56 per hour; 16 to 17-year-olds will have a 1.5 per cent rise from £4.55 to £4.62 per hour and apprentices will see a 3.6 per cent increase from £4.15 to £4.30 per hour.

It means that anyone over the age of 23 working full time on the NLW will get a £345 pay rise.

George Gwilliam, a 22-year-old former care worker from Portsmouth, said the extra money was “a step in the right direction”, but argued that “£10 an hour is the bare minimum people would need nowadays”.

The Treasury said the rise meant the Government was on course to meet its target of the NLW amounting to two thirds of median earnings by 2024 and would ensure the lowest-paid “continue to see pay rises without significant risks to their employment prospects”.

Median earnings is the income which divides the population into 50 per cent who earn less than it and 50 per cent who earn more. The current median income in the UK is £31,460, higher than the average wage of £29,600.

Alison Thewliss, the SNP’S economy spokesman, said Mr Sunak should be announcing “a real living wage – £9.50 an hour as set by the Living Wage Foundation – not his pretend living wage”.