The minimum wage has been successful in tackling extreme low pay. Yet despite increases to the wage floor in recent years, we have seen an increase in in-work poverty. The government has committed to increasing the minimum wage for workers aged 21 and over to two thirds of median earnings by 2024. Through doing so, it hopes to end low pay and reduce in-work poverty.

Learning and Work Institute has been working with Carnegie UK Trust to explore the future of the minimum wage. This final report in the programme examines the impact of the minimum wage over the last two decades, and the potential impact of the government’s plan to increase the wage floor on workers, employers and the economy.

The report sets out how a higher minimum wage can be delivered as part of a wider strategy to promote good work and tackle poverty.