National Minimum Wage 2019

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) is the minimum wage per hour a worker is entitled to in the United Kingdom. These rates are reviewed yearly by the government and are advised by the independent body Low Pay Commission (LPC).


In March 2015 the government announced that on 1 October 2015 the hourly adult rate of National Minimum Wage would rise by 20p, from £6.50 to £6.70 (3%). This is the biggest real-terms increase since 2007 and is estimated to benefit more than 1.4 million of Britain’s lowest-paid workers.

The changes in the past five years are visible in the table below. In 2010 the age groups were slightly altered and an apprentice bracket was also introduced. Before that the age groups were divided slightly differently and there was no applicable minimum wage for apprentices.


From April 2019, all workers aged 25 and over are legally entitled to at least £8.21 per hour.

Minimum Wage Rates from 1 April 2019

2019 £8.21 £7.70 £6.15 £4.35 £3.90
2018 £7.83 £7.38 £5.90 £4.20 £3.70
2017 £7.50 £7.05 £5.60 £4.05 £3.50
2016 £7.20 £6.95 £5.55 £4.00 £3.40
2015 £6.70 £6.70 £5.30 £3.87 £3.30
2014 £6.50 £6.50 £5.13 £3.79 £2.73
2013 £6.31 £6.31 £5.03 £3.72 £2.68
2012 £6.19 £6.19 £4.98 £3.68 £2.65
2011 £6.08 £6.08 £4.98 £3.68 £2.60
2010 £5.93 £5.93 £4.92 £3.64 £2.50




Minimum Wage per Month

Minimum Wage Europe

Unemployment Rate

Unemployment Rate

* National minimum wages before tax deduction and converted into Euro.


The announcement has been subject to discussion. While many argue that the increase is not enough, others argue that setting higher minimum wages would lead to fewer job opportunities.

While most people would agree the 3% increase might not seem a lot at first sight, there are other factors that need to be taken into account – such as inflation, prices of essential goods and housing.

Inflation has decreased to 0% in March 2015 and the Bank of England expects inflation to remain around 0% for the most of this year. This means that unless it would suddenly increase over the next few months, the 3% increment would actually mean 3% in real terms upon the introduction of the new rates in October.

In addition the price of essential goods have also been falling sharply. Food and non-alcoholic drinks dropped at an annual rate of 2.5% since 1997. Transport dropped at an annual rate of 2.8%. Clothes and shoes dropped 3.7% month-on-month. Even gas and electricity prices decreased a little. The decrease in prices means that one will have more money to spend after buying the essentials. Thus the standard of living is improved (in the short term at least).

Prime Minister David Cameron has also pledged to take everyone earning less than £12,500 out of Income Tax altogether and pass a law to have a Tax-Free Minimum Wage. This would also give a minimum wage worker more to spend.

The one major area where inflation remains high is housing – which affects everyone but especially the poorest. To put this into perspective; a person earning minimum wage would only just be able to afford a one bedroom flat in London. Providing they don’t eat, user power, pay council tax or wear clothes.

However the housing issue is something the Conservative Party has also pledged to do something about in their manifesto – they intend to build 200,000 new starter homes 20% below the market price for first-time buyers under 40. They also wish to extend right to buy, a policy for tenants of housing associations (private, not-for profit bodies that provide low-cost housing) to enable them to buy their home at a discounted prices. So the government does have plans in place to increase the supply of affordable housing.

With over 1.4 million people employed at minimum wage and with one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, one could argue that there is a good balance between offering a fair minimum wage whilst simultaneously not decreasing work opportunities. And while the new wages do not necessarily immediately tackle the housing problem in the short term, it will improve the standard of living for most.



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82 replies
    • Leya says:

      No wonder there is so much poverty in the UK. 2.68 an hour for an apprentice in 2013 is diabolical, if the government want to keep talented workers and banish crime everyone should be on at least £ 14.00 per hour minimum wage. We are like third world country what whilst bankers get million pound bonuses. Its sick and perverted, led obviously by the sick and perverted. Who says bankers do a better job or a more skilled than a person who cleans a hotel room and ensures it is spotless clean and hygienic for the next customer, or a nurse who works long hard hours,… NO equality at all.

      • tim says:

        Apprentice wages are low as the company spends time & other resources in training these people and ensuring that the are correctly qualified for the job they are undertaken. The minimum wage is a joke as some people are not worth the minimum wage.
        If you put everybody on £14/hr then there is no incentive to train or work hard and we become a deskilled country. Also you need to be prepared for the cost of living to rise significantly as the supermarket stacker will be earning the same amount as the skilled engineer! and you will still expect to pay 50 pence for a pint of milk.

        • jbobs says:

          Tim, I’m sorry but thats nonsense. You need to value your staff more. The apprentice is getting training so that you to offer out his services in order to make money from them, you arent a rich benefactor providing training out of some sort of altruistic community spirit. Low pay is not a marker of a successful economy, its a indication that an economy is based on a low tech, low potential for for social mobility, low expectation model. Compare Germany with China, you are espousing that we should be more like China, I would suggest that Germany would has the happiest and intellectually productive workforce.

          • Mario says:

            Tim, actually for most people, rising wages, would incentive them to do a better job, work harder, not the opposite!

        • Apprentice with a brain says:

          The apprenticeship wage is low because it’s government funded, the government pays your company for the course and the company you train with pay you minimum apprenticeship wage + whatever is left over from your course. The government forks out as little money as possible, but you’re able to request a higher income should you have higher outgoings.

        • Mark says:

          Tim,your right.production of other workers drops while training an apprentice,the aprentice wage only applies for one year,during that one year productivelyin the work place actually goes down while trainig this person,not taking into account likly breakages for the unskilled apprentice.a company sees a loss as a result of an apprentice.this is one of the reasons, I as a business owner no longer want an apprentice.the goverment do not pay the business for the apprentice,The business in some cases may receive a grant but that may only cover around 3-4 months of the apprentice wage.what about the loss of time by the experienced member of staff who is now training the apprentice.where does the loss of revenue come from.the business absorbs it in the hope of making it back later.assuming the apprentice doesnt leave after 12 monthes for a quick money making unskilled job.if the company has to pay a massive minimum wage or/and apprentice wage,where do you think theyre going to get the income from??? Yes,you when they charge you much more for the item or service you require.the wage is a balance of everything we buy and get paid.double the minimumwage and everything you buy will have to be double the price and your rent or mortgage rates.

        • Tomas says:

          This a joke? costs £200 to train someone in Business Admin. Which means you learn on site and that gets evaluated, no proper training. Shambles

        • average says:

          To live in London with a minimum wage of £7.20 is just ridiculous, employees are not expecting to get pay like a doctor or engineer, but at least a wage enough to cover minimum expenditures.

          A monthly bus pass in London it cost you £80
          An average room in a share house/flat without living room will cost you a minimum of £550
          Food and personal hygiene products for the whole month it can cost you £100 (Buying cheap brands)
          Telephone with an internet connection (since everything you want to do is online this is a need) the cheapest fare in the market could be GiffGaff with a minimum on £15 per month

          Discount an average tax and NIN of £150

          All of these means that an average worker, who is working 45 hours a week including UNPAID BREAKS will earn £1248 per months, if you discount this SUPER basic things necessary to live the remaining amount is £353

          With that amount you have to choose…. save money or buy some clothes, forget about to buy a car and pay insurance, petrol, congestion charge (Which is £12 a day) and MOT. And if you want a better quality of live and rent your own tiny 1 bedroom flat its better to think about to move to other city.

          • John Hornby says:

            There is an easier way. if you are working on a minimum wage contract you could get that wage nationally so you have a choice of where you work. or in simple terms ……… move out of London.

        • Fran says:

          I agree Tim. A rise in wage to £14 an hour would not be sustainable and would result in high inflation and some small businesses going out of business. I don’t think that it would actually mean we would have more money in our arse pockets as we would pay much more tax and NI and then have to pay more for everything aswell. We could end up worse off in the long run. I think we would be better off if the Tax Free Allowance were raised to something like 15,000. That way we would pay less tax and NI, putting more money in our pockets without putting the cost of essentials up. Just a thought

      • Duncan Innes says:

        Apprentices are earning and learning. If we didn’t have a minimum wage people would be paid what they are worth. Why should the government tell me how much I should pay my staff? It should be a contract between myself and my staff. If I want to attract the best staff I will have to pay more, if they are unhappy they can leave.

        • Terry says:

          They would not be paid “what they are worth” they would be paid the minimum that the employer can get away with, as they do now! Most cannot leave if they are unhappy – if they do leave, they would receive no help to find more suitable employment, nor any financial help, nor, more importantly, would they be gaining any life experience. My son has been on minimum wage for 4 years. First year on ‘half wage’ as an ‘apprentice’ which consisted of doing the same job he does now, but being assessed every couple of months. He is now 24 and is still on £6.95. Not enough to pay his keep at home, let alone support himself. Fortunately he is in a full-time job. However, If were to leave, there are only zero hour or short-hour contracts available. He is intelligent, but could only get unskilled work due to confidence issues. He has no chance in this tory led, stuff anyone who isn’t born into a well-off family, ‘society’, that has been created around the smug, self opinionated, ‘I’m alright Jack’, exploiters like yourself.

          • Tom says:

            You are partially right, Employers will always pay the minimum amount they can, which is why competition is so important. To get the best staff you have to pay the best. If you don’t pay the best, you will lose all your talented staff to competition and then probably lose the business because your clients will seek the best. Minimum wage coupled with equal pay law absolutely destroy competitive wages for the working class and yet the working class blame the companies rather than the government for wrecking their lives.
            As for your son. Why did he take an apprenticeship for a minimum wage job in the first place? The idea of apprenticeships is you work for a company to gain skills that distinguish you from the masses, allowing you to use those skills to search for better employment. (I understand that companies now exploit this for cheap labour, but if you take an apprenticeship in something like retail you probably aren’t bright enough to earn a high wage in the first place)
            “He is intelligent, but could only get unskilled work due to confidence issues” coupled with the push for higher education while decreasing its value (coursework destroyed market confidence in education, best example is in the IT field) a lot of the people going into higher education don’t really take an interest in the subject and expect it to fully prepare them to hit the ground running when they enter the market but education is always a step behind even without the disadvantage, making companies who are looking for skilled staff having to be so much more careful.
            Also worth noting is that as a nation we are taxed on everything and anything. We were stupid to put the government in control of our economy.

            TL;DR companies are not the problem, its government interference that is

      • Ash says:

        Excuse me Leya, this is not a third world country. People in Britain have no idea how lucky they are to have a minimum wage. Try living in South Africa were the MONTHLY earnings are £136.37. That is what a third world country is like. So broaden your knowledge a bit and then talk about how rubbish your country is when there are people in the world, working harder than you and earning less than you. At least in Britain there is a minimum wage and companies have to adhere to that. You are more privileged than most people.

        • Deb says:

          It may not be a third world country, but it it heading in that direction. The cost of living is going up, and wages are not keeping up with inflation.

        • Candice says:

          Sorry Ash but i worked in Amanzimtoti just a few miles south of Durban small town and the average monthly wage was 18045 Rand which as of July 2016 was £1,039.37 so you were out with your £136.37 and for the prices good bottle of wine 12 rand =£2.70. 12 eggs 18 rand = £1.04
          Electricity, gas, gas, water, rubbish collection similar to our poll tax or council tax still poll tax to me 700 rand per month = £40.28
          there are a few shanty towns that the government is trying to sort out.
          just to let you know i dont know the exchange rate now since th pound has dropped in value since brexit it will be more now.

      • Londonjon says:

        It’d pretty obvious why professional bankers get paid better than similar skilled or people with a trade. It’s take much longer to qualify for that job and the responsibilitys are much higher. As a result of being paid more they pay much more tax and contribute much more to the economy. As for 1 mill bonuses that makes up less than 100th of 1%. Not sure what you mean by no equality, almost every bank or brokerage offers a graduate scheme where young people join as juniors then over time work their way up. I personally work in this industry and have done for over 12 years and I didn’t have a university educstion. I guess it’s all down to how much or want something or want to be able to blame someone else because you don’t have it. I hope this was helpful.

        • Chris says:

          Wow, no wonder the economy is in decline, with fractured English like that and you say you work in the banking industry.

      • dave says:

        who is gonna pay this £14 an hour?? im self employed with 2 staff and they already take home more than me… the rise to £7.20 means I lose nearly £1000 out of my yearly wage… further increases will mean even less for me.. my options are to cut their hours, let one of them go or increase my prices. none of which I particularly want to do.

        a worker should have a fair wage.. but it should also be fair for employers too. increasing wages too fast will have little to no benefit for anyone as itll just mean everyone increases their prices or starts laying people off. plus a lot of people on minimum wage have tax credits or other benefits…. when the higher wage kicks in they’ll just lose the credits… they wont actually have anything more in their pocket…

        • Alun says:

          Well said Dave as nobody seems to be thinking of the small business man in all of this and I’m in a similar situation to you. If this carries on I will have no other option than to shut down my business and 8 people including myself and my wife will be out of work claiming job seekers.

          • Louise says:

            Exactly! i have three small business, all in catering and we pay slightly over min’ wage; the staff do deserve more but the business can’t afford it without putting prices up and scaring away customers who are constanly looking for discounts or deals.

          • Paul Wilson says:

            Then you don’t have a viable business if you can’t pay a decent wage maybe part of the answer could be minimum pricing but I bet you lot wouldn’t go for that.

        • Thomas says:

          Spot on Dave, Im in similar situation here, we going to see how it goes for a few months but its looking like the only way I can continue to work and pay the mortgage is to close the workshop, lay off the two mechanics and go to a mobile workshop operation by myself. I doubt that my two employees would call this an improvement for them

          • Elizabeth says:

            100% agree dave. We are business owners and all of our full-time staff earn more than me and my husband, some even more than both of us put together.
            Increasing minimum wage by huge jumps is not helpful to our business at all and really does make you think twice about hiring and the hours you can offer your staff. we end up working for less than an apprentice would earn and when the wages go up we have to take on more jobs ourselves. There is only so much you can put up your prices without pricing yourself out the market.

          • Paul Wilson says:

            Rubbish the price that Garages charge for a simple service is ridiculous if you can’t pay skilled mechanics a proper wage then you should close your business as it is not viable.

      • Max says:

        Not only there’s no equality at all but the gap between rich and poor is even widening.

        And what are peple doing about it?
        Absolutely nothing.

        • Fran says:

          Equality!!! Don’t make me laugh. Last year a Man doing the same job as me in my office was being paid £5,000 a year more than me. Women are still being paid less than men for the same job

      • Yopi says:

        I can,t believe what you are saying!!! I make 2,71 GBP A DAY!!! That is a third world country minimum wage. And I have a Masters degree.

        • jimthing says:

          Yes, but the UK is an advanced democratic economy.

          Hence we should have been able to work out by now that someone earning £100s–1000s/hr in many average responsibility jobs, is not fair to a great many others who earn 10-20/hr in highly stressed high responsibility jobs.

          We fail at this generation after generation.

  1. Emma jane dean says:

    I think that if the national minimum wage is going up as the
    Icing wage increases, it should be over 21’s as the minimum wage the now is anyone over the age of 21 gets at least £6.70. I know a lot of people between the age of 21-25 that keep a house and struggle to pay their bills including myself. It’s not just over 25’s that try keep a house and live at the same time. If the living wage should go up it should be over 21’s that get the same wage as everyone else.
    You will see a lot more homeless young people on the streets because they can’t afford to live.

    • Tom says:

      I agree, I have to run a house on £6.70 per hour wage. The bills add up and I’m only left with £100 for shopping for the month, it’s not fair that because I’m 21 that my wage will not go up when every one else’s will next month. The government needs to understand that not everyone lives together or lives with their parents until they are 25 years old!

      • Ryan says:

        Legally though you are defined as dependable upon your parents up until the age of 25.
        Regardless of whether you live on your own or not. I know friends who couldn’t get loans and other financial supports until they reached 25.

      • Danny says:

        What is all this nonsense about ‘running a house’ on minimum wage? A lot of people earning well above the minimum wage have to live in a flat share. If you can’t afford to live out and within your means, move back home or get a flat share. Simple.

        • Lucy says:

          Not everyone lives in the perfect world where they can leach off of their parents Danny, and people who live in small towns don’t get the benefit of flat shares they are hard to come by.

  2. Jim Smith says:

    Last year I spent 50% of my take-home pay on rent, this year it is 60%. Not London. Too much weight here on the great news about shoe prices, imho!

    • Jan Stockham says:

      The last minumum rise my boss decided to cut our hours…..he said he will do it again to save money. Can he do this ?????

  3. Elliot says:

    The more it rises the more I have to cut my staffs hours or let people go catch 22 situation situation…
    When I raised this issue I was told to make my business more profitable…ok I’ll let some staff go and the government can pay…

  4. Hubert says:

    It is about time the fat cats take a pay cut and pay the hard workers more, when will people realise that the operator’s, engineers, and the likes work really hard and long hours to keep the industry in motion and this generates money in this country, not the bankers or back benchers in government.

  5. Preacher says:

    This is laughable. My employer has today told everyone that to pay for the increase in this wage they are stripping us of double pay for Sunday working, double pay for bank holidays and no more unsociable payments for working after 8pm. Brilliant. So what we get in one hand they take back with the other.

    • MJ says:

      If all of the low paid workers went on strike, the high paid workers wouldn’t be able to do their jobs right? Imagine not being able to get your milk coz the corner shop is shut or the dairy farmer was on strike? Imagine the bus driver not turning up. Imagine the guy who you pay petrol money to not being there? Even the card machines are broken and the engineer is chilling. There’s no internet because they are on strike. There’s no emergency services because they are on strike…If this all happened at once, imagine the impact. It shouldn’t be needed, it is unsafe and ufair; but such is the UK in it’s current state.

  6. Michael says:

    There is always going to be wage pressure in companies with marginal profitability. What the minimum wage does is limit the ability of businesses to get a subsidy by paying lower wages and expecting the benefit system to pick up the slack.

    i think it is right and proper that someone working full time should be paid enough to have a socially acceptable living standard, without requiring state support such as housing benefit hand tax credits, and whilst not perfect, minimum wage levels are finally waking up to this.

  7. P says:

    I pay minimum wage, do I have to start paying a living wage to my 1 employee?
    Sometimes my employee gets more wages than me, as I am struggling to keep the business afloat. Obviously I would love to pay more but feel that this might finish my business.

    • jaybobs says:

      P, There are two options, you pay a wage that someone can live on or you pay a wage that your employee cant live on. Why do you think your employee owes you a living?. If your business cant pay you both a living wage then its not a viable business.

      • Elizabeth says:

        or its a new business….

        Running a business is hard how can you say that. if P decided to not run this business then the employee is unemployed…. is the employee now better off?

  8. Caroline says:

    Can a company pay under the minimum wage if staff have enforced breaks? Cleaning staff at a school have enforced breaks and hence are paid £7 per hour instead of £7.20 – is this legal?

    • ellis says:

      I don’t think it is legal to pay under minimum wage irregardless of when and how long they work, some cleaners will work for a company which means they will work over holidays dependent on contract also i’m a cleaner and I get £8.26 an hour as well as school holidays off.

  9. Peter says:

    Paying the latest minimum wage is fine but the local council who I do most of my work for and who I tendered on a 5 year contract, deceided due to rising costs for the last 4 years , that they cannot pay any rise due to cut backs in their funding despite an agreement we would be paid a 3/4% rise every year
    They however are paying their employees the new rates where do we find this cash to pay this rise with Insurance tax having risen for employers ins etc paternity pay for men , fuel prices which did fall now starting to rise again, new pensions to be paid endless costs and we cant raise the price of our services
    I agree with previous comments that it will result in hours reduction and in my case has led to me reducing staff and as soon as possible I intend to close the buisness and get a job after 30 years of running this company as the regulations also introduced by the EU are killing small companies off

  10. Arnes Ramic says:

    Everyone should be paid equally, it is disgusting that two people of different ages would get paid differently for the same amount of work. We’re being segregated and categorised on every possible level for no reason.

      • K says:

        If you’re doing the exact same job as someone else, you should be being paid the same. I am an apprentice and understand that I am on a lower wage as I am still learning and potentially wouldn’t do as good of a job as someone already with a qualification. However, I used to work in a child’s play centre at the age of 16 and was on pitiful money, yet a woman who was doing exactly the same job as myself was getting paid a hell of a lot more purely because of the minimum wage. Why should I work my hardest when at the end of the day she’s getting paid to do the exact same job im doing but 2 of my hours work are equivalent to 1 hours of hers?I was in education whilst working I was absolutely knackered and coming away with no money! I understand she has living costs etc, to pay but whos to say i havent? If it’s a job that doesn’t need qualifications, is trained whilst on the job and everyone is doing the same thing, then ALL employees should be on the same wage regardless of age or experience in my opinion.

  11. john says:

    It has always been the same the problem is no government has the guts to stand up and say we are going to have a national maximum income as part of a prices and incomes policy.

  12. Chris says:

    In a country in which we have equality rammed down our throats at every available oppurtunity why is an over 25 getting more money than people over the age of 21? People over the age of 21 have the exact same jobs and all the other responsibilities to shoulder as a 25 year old so how are they equal now George? answer me that. and this ridiculous suggestion that’s being put about by certain people in the goverment that the priority is to get the under 25s into work rather than give them a pay rise is neither here nor there and quite frankly an insult to anybody of intelligence. This is exploitation nothing more nothing less. The message from george Osbourne is clear people over the age of 21 are adults, should be expected to work as hard as an adult and have all the other responsibilities an adult has but just not earn the same amount of money that’s not right.

    • David says:

      Fair point…so as an employer I would simply choose to employ the older person as they likely have more experience. The lower minimum wage for younger people is often the incentive that lands them the job in the first place! IF everyone of any age was forced to be paid the same minimum wage the employment for the young would continue to grow exponentially.

      Think of the bigger picture, George Osborne isn’t against young people. He’s trying to find a balance for the employment market that encourages employment across the ages,

  13. Zero says:

    I think many fail to see the main fact here. you can complain about our minimum wage but think, how much do those people in parliament earn? are they qualified to make decisions based on my country? is this country turning third world? I would like to say straight away it doesn’t take Jesus Christ or Albert Einstein to see how screwed this country is because of politicians. and just FYI if I got paid £14 an hour for working at Sainsbury’s then why should a nurse or soldier also get the same for doing a more important job than myself?

    let me be real here, our pay may be our concern or our opinion may be wages are unfair, but the politicians don’t care about you, they only want your money!

  14. Joe says:

    My daughter is 19 and has just split up with her boyfriend. She would like to continue living in the flat. Due to the current wage structure she is only on £5.30 an hour and it won’t be until she is 21 that her wage will rise. She also cannot claim working tax credit until she is 25. That is what I call unfair Mr Osbourne. She is a sensible reliable hard working adult who likes her independance.

  15. LC says:

    My daughter has just started working for a National Company. She will be 22 this year. Her wages are £6.04 per hour. Working often until midnight in the restaurant; she was told by her manager that she would have to rely on tips to make up the difference!! How can this be right? Surely a National Company can’t be allowed to get away with this? What can she do about it?

  16. Josie Wentworth says:

    Why is the minimum living wage nearly double the basic state pension. Does it cost a pensioner less to just live?

  17. Peter Thomas says:

    When i was in my twenties i worked on building sites as a forks driver. My hourly rate was £5.50 and i brought home over £200 per week. Now the rate has increased but so have the deductions. The government is trying to pull the wool over everyones eyes. The minimumwage is a publicity stunt designed to con youngsters into voting for them when in reality they have nothing for the lower class except use their contributions to pamper and molly coddle the upper class who have been handed the golden goose year in year out for most of my adult life

  18. Ray says:

    I note that many minmum wagers work shifts. In case of Pumpkin Cafe’s at railway stations they have to be available at the station at 5am! That means they have to be living locally to the station.

  19. Katie says:

    Unskilled people should not get paid more than any skilled worker. A person stacking shelves should not be getting more than an apprentice in my opinion and 7.20 minimum wage is ridiculous! This will push out older people from getting low skilled jobs because they will just get younger people to do the same jobs for cheaper. I think it was a bad decision to put the minimum wage up that much.

    also 14.00 an hour is stupidly high! Most uni leavers wouldn’t even get that so why should unskilled people?

    • Jack says:

      I agree (mostly) but I think that no matter how skilled you are you should be able to live off of your salary with little more than the bare essentials.

      Having nice things should be the incentive to get a high skilled job, not being able to afford food or pay rent in your 1 bedroom flat.

  20. SC says:

    Anyone here has the option to run their own small business, so why do they complain if they don’t like working for one? Its REALLY tough running your own business and its not fair you have to pay your staff minimum wages when often the business cannot afford to pay the owner minimum wage. He/she gets no guaranteed wages though he has taken huge risks with his life savings and often puts in 60 to 100 hours per week in doing not only the businesses work, but the extra time in sales, marketing, payrolls, accounts the bureaucracy and the worry. Business owners are having to pay highest ever wages plus your holidays, pensions, maternity, sickness, etc. and who will pay mine? It benefits NO-ONE if we are forced to close and work for someone else! Its your choice, so don’t cut off your nose to spite your face!

  21. Ellie Sparrey says:

    I am currently an apprentice, I am 17 years old and living on the little £3.30 an hour is almost impossible. apprentices are used as cheap labour and I think it is wrong. there is no incentive to work as there is no reward for it. ‘earning while you learn’ is all good but when it gets to the point where your work load is bigger than a senior members of staffs work load and having experienced this first hand you start to think what’s the point and you may as well have stayed at college.

  22. Ryan says:

    I’m currently a trainee quantity Surveyor on £7.24 p/hr. I left my previous engineering job as a semi skilled worker on £9.80 p/hr. I have always lived with my partner which now we are expecting a child, yes, I have £75 a month left to my name after my outgoings but do I complain? No, because I chose to pull my finger out, chose a new career, chose to struggle for the next few years and do day release at university to gain my qualification. Once qualified with 5 years experience my wage will bump up to 30k a year. Why should I go through all these difficult times to pursue a good career and work hard to earn good money to provide a good income to support my family for some moron above claiming “everyone should be paid the same”? So a cleaner (which I’m not disrespecting as my mum is a cleaner) should earn the same as me? I don’t think so, rather than moaning about minimum wages its a little thing called hard work and effort that gets you places. I took a step back to move 5 steps forward I’m talking as a 25 year old who came out of school and college with next to no qualifications and had to work hard to even get to where I am currently. We are not a communist country. Although I agree and feel sorry for the small businesses who struggle to pay workers the minimum wage but if that’s the case maybe it is more beneficial to cut your workers, cut your work load so you can work alone and slowly build. Moving backwards to move forward isn’t a bad thing. So the minimum wage is a good thing in my opinion. How would I be able to pursue a good career with the situation I’m in on £3.50 an hour, come on guys lets be realistic.

  23. Pete says:

    Good to see the constant rise in the living wage. Some employers have had a thick slice of the profits that the staff have made for them for too long. However, night shift workers are being left out. My hourly rate is now £8.80 for 55 hours per week. I will soon be on minimum wage. That includes 6 hours Sunday working. Is someone going to look at this?

  24. Mark says:

    My mother in law is a Chief Accountant for an energy company in the Ukraine, she is paid a high wage for the job she does, working from 8am until 4:45pm with only one 45 minute break per day, her wage, £0:48p per hour, minimum wage in Ukraine for people who normally work 12 hour days or nights is just £0:23p, i am so happy to be working in the UK.

  25. Eunice says:

    Ok, so we have two apprentice currently. Neither of them produce a full weeks work because they have to attend college. They cannot work some of the holidays because they have to attend college. Their work capabilities are low because naturally they are not trained. They take up valuable time because we have to stop and show them everything. We have whole days where their trainer comes in and does in house assessments. So, they are paid a lot more than £2.80!!! ours start on £5.00 per hour and the government help definitely does not pay for their training!
    One of ours has taken a lot of our time to push him through the first part – but we are committed to helping him through.
    And finally – £14.00 for a minimum wage????!!! I’m a small business owner and would LOVE to earn £14.00!!! I can guarantee, you would be the first to complain about the price of meat going up. Honestly – get out into the real world and see what its like when you’re working a 60hr week, and, fighting to pay the bills – no, we don’t get government help either!

  26. Narmin says:

    I signed a contract for 6 months in March, which says my wages is 7.20 GBP. So should I get 7.50 as the minimum wages increased or my wages will be 7.20 because the contract says so?

  27. Rebecca Sandiford says:

    I think it’s absolutely disgusting that workers can be paid different rates of pay for the same work! It is age discrimination, I don’t see how it is any different to paying workers less based on gender. It’s absolutely absurd – I’m 16 and I work for Laura Ashley and am getting paid £4.05 when I work just as hard as my older counterparts. It’s exploitation but who will do something about it? Certainly not the adults who have the right to vote as it doesn’t affect them. But how can us 16-17 year olds implement change without the vote?

    • Ethan says:

      Because people older than yourself have more bills to pay, chances are that you are not paying rent or for food yourself, but your parents are. And a company will prefer to hire a person with more work experience rather than someone still in school.

  28. C says:

    Minimum wage is a mind trick – the number doesn’t matter as any increase will drive inflation. This is why 7.20 per hour is the equivalent of 3.00 per hour in the 1990s.

  29. Cristiano says:

    I am from the USA. I thinbk its terrible that you folks have a minimum wage for different age brackets. If a hard working 17 year old gets his first job at McDonalds on the same day as 35 year old they should make the same wage. That is borderline ageist (if there is even such a thing). By the way, I am in favor of keeping minimum wages lower. A minimum wage is supposed to be a starter job to give you the skills to climb the ladder of experience and gain a better position with a higher wage, its not meant to be the wage you earn your whole career


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