Nearly one million low paid employees, two thirds of them women, will benefit from a raise in the National Minimum Wage.
Labour’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced that the adult National Minimum Wage will rise from £5.52 to £5.73.
The rate for 18-21 year olds will also increase from £4.60 to £4.77, while the 16-17 year old rate will rise from £3.40 to £3.53.
Gordon Brown said: "Some people said the minimum wage would cost us two million jobs. We have a rising minimum wage and we have created three million jobs.''
The Labour Government has also boosted the funding for enforcement of the National Minimum Wage and is planning tough new penalties for rogue employers who underpay staff as part of the Employment Bill which is currently before Parliament.
Since the implementation of the Minimum Wage Act, Labour’s National Minimum Wage has made a huge difference in making work pay and helping families out of poverty in Britain.
Since October 2007 the minimum wage for adults, combined with Working Tax credits and other benefits, has guaranteed an income of at least £292 a week for families with one child and one full-time worker.
While the Tories opposed the minimum wage and still criticise it, the Labour Government is taking steps to strengthen it – ensuring that employees know their rights and employers know their responsibilities.
Message posted by cally at 01:42 pm, Wed 25th Jun 2008
I am 18 years old, and i currently work in the retail industry, personally i am annoyed that the minimum wage is different for those between 18-21 and those 22 and over, i work just as hard as my
collegues, i do the same job and work the same hours but get paid less, but outside work i pay adult rates for everything, transport ect, how is this fair. whatever happened to equality??
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Message posted by philip at 02:05 pm, Mon 23rd Jun 2008
i work in the catering industry and simply, if there is not a minimum wage increase, we would never get a pay rise. and it is like this for many people around the country, this minimum wage increase
is still not above inflation hence we have to have 2 jobs but then what?, a BR tax code which means we could only be taking home as little as £4 an hour or for a 5hr evening shift £24
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Message posted by Michael at 09:56 pm, Tue 18th Mar 2008
I work 30 hrs a week, bring in £165 before tax, with the wage increase i'll be coming home with an extra £6 a week before tax, but my rent and council tax has gone up £3 a week each so i'm still no
better off with this increase
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Message posted by David at 09:44 pm, Thu 6th Mar 2008
This is welcome news for the lowest pay. It is people like you Luke who should try living and balancing home life and work on a poor wage. We have far too many employes who still exploit workers and
pay them poor wages. All I can say is keep up the good work Gordon.
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Message posted by Leyla at 12:26 pm, Tue 11th Mar 2008
I agree with David, I'm 20 and I work in a childrens nursery for £4.90 p/h. Its hard trying to survive on this wage, I've now had to take on an evening job just to pay the bills. When you get paid
crap money, its impossible to balance work and home life.
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Message posted by Lindsay at 01:25 pm, Thu 13th Mar 2008
Are you aware that the abolition of the 10% tax band means that people like you on the minimum wage are going to be a great deal WORSE off, because you will end up paying more tax. How is that fair?
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Message posted by John at 06:49 pm, Thu 6th Mar 2008
Good news - but would like to see the 16-17 and 18-21 rates go up more. My (17 year-old) daughter was lucky enough to get a part-time job with Arcadia Group - who recognise USDAW - and pay adult
minimum wage to her, even when she was 16 years old. The worker is worthy of his (or her) hire.
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Message posted by Luke at 05:16 pm, Thu 6th Mar 2008
This is absolutely outragus! Employers are having to pay a high minimum wage already and when the minimum wage is so high and the business can't pay it, the business will go bust and what jobs will
there be? Luke
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Message posted by Michael John at 09:47 pm, Mon 10th Mar 2008
Luke, Where is your compassion and fairness. The minimum wage is not too high that employers can't pay it. It's about legislating to ensure they do pay. During those awful tory years in mid 90s I
worked on employment agency for £3.00 an hour then had tax deducted at the weeks end at basic rate...Total for 40 hours about £98. THATS OUTRAGOUS!
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Message posted by Dianne at 09:18 pm, Thu 6th Mar 2008
I remember working for £2.50 a hour( 45 hour week), with not tax credits to support me. I welcome that increase to the Minimum Wage and just wish it had been introduced earlier.
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Message posted by Elizabeth at 11:22 am, Fri 7th Mar 2008
Without sounding like an old fogey...when I was at Poly in Manchester in 1983, I was paid the princely sum of £1 an hour for waitressing - I made more in tips in a shift than I did in wages. My
husband recalls working in a mill in Oldham during the same period and taking home £40 for a 48 hour week (that is not an exaggeration). FACT: when the minimum wage was introduced over 60% of working
people in Oldham got a pay rise.
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Message posted by Michelle at 10:20 pm, Thu 6th Mar 2008
Diane, we should not be reliant on "crumbs from the fat-mans table" which is what tax-credits are, and, as for the "Minimum Wage" it is, in effect, the "Maximum Wage" It is just a ploy for "them" to
turn a blind eye to the real problem and that can be summarized in one word: INEQUALITY
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Message posted by Robert at 09:38 am, Wed 27th Aug 2008
Michelle, Not every employer treats the minimum wage as a maximum wage. I employ all my staff despite age and experience above the national minimum wage because I WANT THEM TO FEEL VALUED. Many
employers recognise the value in their staff and are not prone to exploitation. I have a an 18 year old, unskilled, intern working in my business on £5.70 per hour already.
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Message posted by michelle at 07:06 pm, Thu 6th Mar 2008
A HIGH minimum wage?? After all deductions and, don't forget Brown is abolishing the 10p tax rate in April. After all deductions and having to fork out for crippling Council Tax, outrageous rents and
those wretched energy price hikes - how much does this guy think there is left to "eat" with???
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Message posted by John at 06:44 pm, Thu 6th Mar 2008
Thats exactly what the Tories said before 1997, Luke. If they'd been right, there wouldn't be a hair-dresser, cleaner or bar-person left in Britain! If we'd believed the doom-mongers like you, there
would still be people being paid £2 per hour.
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Message posted by mark at 08:01 am, Fri 7th Mar 2008
Succesive government in this country has destroyed the many real, living wage jobs that existed, and have shot themselves (And us) in the foot, because people are now really stuggling to live on the
low pay economy we have..There would have been no need for tax credits if our leaders both political and business had not been so short sighted regarding investing for the future rather than short
term gain.
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