Minimum wage in the UK increases by 6.2%

As of Wednesday this week, national minimum wage in the UK has increased by 6.2% for those aged 25 and above. This now means that any minimum wage worker over 25 will now be paid £8.72 per hour.

For 21 to 24-year olds it has increased by 6.5% to £8.20 per hour, and up 4.9% to £6.45 for 18 to 20-year olds. The large increases were announced last December but only came into effect on the 1^stApril, the start of the financial year in the UK.

According to a report by the Low Pay Commission in 2019, minimum wage workers account for 7% of the total UK workforce, around 2 million people, with most of them working in retail, hospitality, cleaning, and maintenance.

As Covid-19 continues to cause havoc throughout the UK economy, many low-paid workers have been forced to stay at home and are unable to work. For those working in hospitality which has been hit particularly hard by the country-wide lockdown, workers will only benefit from the minimum wage increase if they have been retained by their employers.

With the UK government stepping in to pay up to 80% of retained worker’s wages, it is hoped that this will avoid mass unemployment and those in low-paid jobs will keep receiving their monthly pay-packet. For the wellbeing of the nation, this is particularly important as minimum wage workers are often those who rely most desperately on their little but much needed monthly income.