The UK Labour Government will shortly be announcing a complete restructure of the UK’s minimum wage system, in what amounts to a momentous shift in policy.
According to the new approach, the lowest legal wage that employers can give their workers should take into account the cost of living. The other change expected concerns reducing differences between minimums for different age groups.
Survey Show Massive Support for Unified Minimum Wage
This drive comes after results from a recent survey showed that 70% of voters think that the 18-20 years rate should not exist at all. At present, there is no requirement on the Low Pay Commission (LPC) to include whether these wages provide enough for low-income employees’ daily needs when advising ministers about salaries.
The Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, has told LPC to involve an element of living costs in its future recommendations. When talking to Mirror newspaper, Reynolds said, “For too long working people have faced the worst of the cost of living crisis, but this Government is taking bold action to address it and make work pay.
“The new remit to the LPC is the first of many vital steps we will take to support more people to stay in work and improve living standards. Our focus remains on putting more money in working people’s pockets and boosting economic growth.”
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner echoed these sentiments, noting, “For too many putting in a serious shift, the work isn’t paying enough to cover the basics. That is why we are moving quickly to restore security and dignity to all the people who put in the hard graft to build this country from the ground up. Giving hope to those striving to make life better for themselves and their families.
“Our new deal will protect working adults with a genuine living wage, creating a stronger, fairer and more aspirational future for work in Britain.”
Plans to Close the Wage Gap
Reynolds will also instruct the LPC to reduce the differential between pay rates for 18–20-year-olds and the National Living Wage, as a first step towards ending the lower rate for young workers.
Resounding, 71% of voters back doing away with “discriminatory” age bands, which presently see younger staff earn less than their older counterparts for performing similar jobs.
A poll by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) reveals overwhelming backing across party lines for having a single minimum wage rate applicable to all workers from the age of 18 onwards.
The research found strong support among Labour (82%), Conservative (64%), Lib Dem (76%), Green (88%) and Reform (69%) voters.
Paul Nowak, General Secretary of TUC, emphasised, “Everyone should be paid a fair rate for their job. But hundreds of thousands of young workers are suffering a huge pay penalty because of an outdated and discriminatory system.
Young people up and down the country face the same cost of living pressures as everybody else. They shouldn’t be getting less for doing the same work as older workers.”