The Low Pay Commission has recommended that the adult national minimum wage (NMW) rate should increase to £6.70 an hour from October 2015.
If its recommendations are accepted by the government, the three per cent rise from its current level of £6.50 would be the largest real terms increase in the NMW since 2007. The commission estimates that 1.4 million low paid workers will benefit from the increase in the main rate of the NMW, paid to people aged 21 and over.
Announcing the commission’s recommendations on 23 February, chair David Norgrove said: “Sharp increases in the minimum wage would put jobs at risk. We do believe, however, that the continued recovery, and in particular the impressive growth in employment of the low paid, should this year allow a further increase in the real and relative value of the minimum wage.”
As well as its recommendation for the adult rate, the Low Pay Commission has called for:
- an increase of 3.3 per cent from £5.13 to £5.30 in the youth development rate, which applies to workers aged 18 to 20
- an increase of 2.2 per cent from £3.79 to £3.87 in the rate for 16 and 17-year-olds
- an increase of 2.6 per cent from £2.73 to £2.80 in the apprentice rate, which applies to all apprentices in the first year of an apprenticeship and to those aged 16 in any year of an apprenticeship.
