On Monday 30th December, Chancellor Sajid Javid announced a record increase of 51p in the minimum wage from £8.21 to £8.72 an hour in April.
The 6.2% hike is double the rate of average annual wage growth and also twice the current rate of inflation, as well as the legal minimum’s biggest cash rise ever since it came into force in 1997. It is expected to deliver an extra £930 a year into the pockets of almost three million who earn it.
The new increase is in line with the Chancellor's pledge of ensuring that the minimum wages soar up to £10.50 by 2024, which is two-thirds of median earnings. Writing for The Sun, the Chancellor noted,
“I believe the best possible start to 2020 for millions of hard-working people on lower wages is to give them a pay rise. So that is exactly what we are doing, by increasing the National Living Wage by an inflation-busting 6.2% to £8.72 - £930 a year extra - for a full-time worker from April. I look back and think what a difference that percentage wage rise would have made for my parents.
“It’s the largest ever cash increase - proving that hard work does pay under this Government.”
