Around two-and-a-half million workers across the UK have had a pay rise this month as new national minimum pay rates increased.
The new minimum rate of pay for workers in England came into force on the first of this month and is pretty much in line with the current higher rate of inflation.
According to the Government, the UK’s lowest-paid workers will benefit from the rise in the National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW).
Under the changes, the NLW will increase by 6.6 per cent to £9.50 for workers aged 23 or over. The Government has also introduced increases of between 4.1 per cent and 11.9 per cent to each of the National Minimum Wage rates for younger workers and apprentices.
The Government had set a target of the NLW being two thirds of median earnings by April 2024.
To have reached that target by April 2022, the NLW would have had to have increased to £9.58 per hour. In its projections, the Low Pay Commission estimates that the NLW will need to rise to £10.70 per hour in April 2024 to hit the target.
The Low Pay Commission also estimates that there were two million workers paid at or below the minimum wage in April 2019, around seven per cent of all UK workers.
National Living Wages increases
These rates are for the National Living Wage (for those aged 23 and over) and the National Minimum Wage (for those of at least school leaving age). The rates change on 1 April every year.
| 23 and over | 21 to 22 | 18 to 20 | Under 18 | Apprentice | |
| April 2021 (current rate) | £8.91 | £8.36 | £6.56 | £4.62 | £4.30 |
| April 2022 | £9.50 | £9.18 | £6.83 | £4.81 | £4.81 |
Jobs paid around the minimum wage are concentrated within a small number of low-paying occupations. The Low Pay Commission estimates that nearly half (48 per cent) of all jobs paying at or below the minimum wage are in retail, hospitality and cleaning and maintenance occupations.
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