Unions are stepping up calls for young workers to be paid a higher minimum wage after research suggested 900,000 under-21-year-olds were being left “massively out of pocket”. The TUC said young people were losing an average of £2,800 every year.
The main National Minimum Wage is currently £9.50 an hour, but it is £9.18 for 21 to 22-year-olds, £6.83 for 18 to 20-year-olds and £4.81 for under-18s. However, these hourly payment rates are going up in April to £10.42, £10.18, £7.49 and £5.28 respectively, following recommendations to the UK Government from the Low Pay Commission.
The TUC said that paying a lower rate to young adults was “unfair” and that the tiered-rates system must be “overhauled”. An overwhelming majority of workers aged under 21 - the cut off for youth rates - received less than the full minimum wage, the union organisation said.
