Hundreds of thousands of 18 to 20-year-old employees should be paid the adult minimum wage rate, according to the government’s official adviser on low pay.
The recommendation from the Low Pay Commission would mean a 33 per cent pay rise for a 20-year-old on the youth rate of £8.60 an hour to the new adult rate of £11.44 an hour, if enacted on April 1, when the annual rises in the adult and youth rates take effect. The government has rejected the proposal.
The commission acknowledged that such a rise could have a significant impact on employment prospects for this age group and would need to be monitored closely. As such it called for the 18 to 20-year-old national living wage (NLW) rate to be
