Biggest ever increase to the Living Wage

ALMOST three million people will receive a pay rise of up to £930 from April after the Government announced the biggest ever increase to the National Living Wage.

Boris Johnson is determined to show low-paid voters who backed the Conservatives in the general election that he has their interests at heart, as he will today announce that from April 1 over25s will be paid a minimum of £8.72 per hour, a 6.2 per cent jump from the current level of £8.21.

Younger workers who receive the National Minimum Wage will also receive a pay boost of between 4.6 per cent and 6.5 per cent, with 21 to 24-year-olds to see an increase from £7.70 to £8.20 an hour. The pay rise will benefit nearly three million people, according to the Low Pay Commission. Mr Johnson said that for too long “people haven’t seen the pay rises they deserve” and under his government, they will “level up access to opportunity across our great country”.

“Our government will put a stop to that, giving nearly three million people from Edinburgh to Eastbourne a wellearned pay rise, including the biggest ever cash boost to the National Living Wage,” he said.

During the party conference season earlier this year Sajid Javid, the Chancellor, vowed to raise the National Living Wage to £10.50 an hour over five years.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Mr Javid said he wanted to see an end to low pay, as he reiterated his pledge to see the National Living Wage increase further to £10.50 by 2024.

“This latest rise will mean that since we introduced the National Living Wage in 2016, the lowest paid will have had a wage increase of more than £3,600,” he said.

Andrea Leadsom, the Business Secretary, said: “Our people’s pay rise will put more money into the pockets of millions of hard-working Brits across the country – but we won’t stop there.

“We want to make the UK the first country in the world to eliminate low pay in the next five years.”

However, the rise falls short of the £9.30 hourly rate the Living Wage Foundation has campaigned for, which calls for pay rises to be reflective of the cost of living.