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Labour pledges £10 minimum wage for under-18s

Labour will extend its plans for a higher £10-an-hour minimum wage to include workers under the age of 18, party leader Jeremy Corbyn has said.

Currently, under-18s are entitled to a minimum wage of £4.35 per hour, compared with £8.21 for over-25s.

But under a Labour government this "youth rate" for the minimum wage would be ended in 2020, Mr Corbyn said.

One business group said there was value in having the minimum wage set by an independent group, as it is now.

Mr Corbyn had already pledged to raise the National Living Wage - a legally binding hourly rate for workers aged 25 and over - to £10 an hour next year, if Labour gained power.

He said Labour's proposal would see workers aged 16 and 17 paid about £2,500 more a year.

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