Future of the minimum wage
Final report
Learning and Work Institute has partnered with Carnegie Trust to explore the impact of increasing the UK-wide minimum wage on workers, employers and the economy.
The introduction of the National Minimum Wage 20 years ago is considered a policy success story, reducing levels of extreme low pay with little impact on employment levels. Yet real pay has stagnated for the majority of workers since the recession, and today, the majority of people experiencing poverty live in a working household.
The UK Government has set out plans to increase the National Living Wage to £10.50, and extend it to all workers aged 21, increasing the wage floor to a level never seen in the UK, and a level higher than almost anywhere in the world.
This project aims to complement ongoing work in this field, with a focus on understanding how policy can seize the opportunities of a higher minimum wage and mitigate the risks. It explores how increasing the minimum wage could be part of a wider labour market strategy to improve the quality of work, including access, security, progression and training. It will highlight the voices of low paid workers and employers with new polling and qualitative research.
Trust for London is supporting additional analysis through the Better Work Network – run by Learning and Work Institute – to inform debate about the potential for a higher minimum wage in the capital,setting out new insights and recommendations on how minimum wage policy could mitigate against its higher costs of living and in-work poverty
Final report
This briefing paper contributes to the renewed debate about the 2021 minimum wage rates
Second report of the series
First report of the series
Joint submission to the Low Pay Commission regarding the April 2021 National Minimum Wage rates