It’s time to freeze the minimum wage
The minimum wage is no longer affordable. Before any work has been done, an employer must commit £28,308.52 – the minimum amount of money required to cover a full-time national living wage salary, employer national insurance contributions and pension auto-enrolment. Many employers now can’t pay it. The result: our minimum wage laws have become a major driver of youth unemployment. When Tony Blair’s New Labour introduced the minimum wage in 1999 – set at £3.60 for people above 22 years and £3.00 for workers aged 18–21 – it was 46 per cent of the median wage. At the time, Tory MPs such as Michael Fallon warned that a statutory minimum wage would add to public spending, damage competitiveness and discourage people from upskilling.
