National Minimum Wage Statistics

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) sets minimum hourly rates of pay and those rates (which are based on recommendations of the Low Pay Commission (LPC)) vary by age group.

AS previously reported, the introduction of the ‘National Living Wage’ (NLW) in April 2016, set the NMW rate for adults aged 25 and over at £7.20 an hour. From October 2016 the NMW rate is £6.95 for 21-25 year olds, £5.55 for 18-20 year olds, £4.00 for 16-17 year olds and £3.40 for apprentices aged under 19 or in their first year of an apprenticeship.  All rates are next due for review in April 2017.

The LPC estimates that the number of employees in the workforce paid at the NMW will rise from 1.4 million in 2015, to 2.2 million in 2016 and ultimately reach 3.7 million by 2020. These increases in coverage are largely due to the introduction of the NLW. Employees in the hospitality industry are among those thought most likely to be affected.

A Parliamentary Briefing Paper, recently released, on the NMW and its impact and ‘take up’, is available here -  http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7735/CBP-7735.pdf