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.
As well as demanding all workers be eligible for the same minimum wage, the TUC also called for a £15 National Minimum Wage.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Too many young workers are being left hugely out of pocket because of outdated youth rates of the National Minimum Wage.
“Almost a million workers under 21 face this pay penalty - getting less than older workers for doing the same job.
“Young people up and down the country are being hammered by the cost of living crisis - like everyone else, they need more money in their pockets now.
“It’s time to end this glaring injustice so that all workers are entitled to the same minimum wage.
“It’s time for ministers to deliver a plan for a £15 minimum wage so that we can put an end to low-pay Britain for good.”
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