The national minimum wage will rise to £5.73 an hour in October, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced. It will rise by 3.8% from £5.52. For 18 to 21-year-olds the rate will be £4.77, up from £4.60, while 16 to 17-year-olds will get £3.53, up from £3.40.
The government said that one million people would benefit from the increase, two-thirds of whom would be women.
Mr Brown said that the minimum wage had gone up by 60% since the policy was introduced by the government in 1999.
| It makes a real difference to the lives of many of our lowest-paid workers and protects them from exploitation Business Secretary John Hutton |
“I am proud of the minimum wage. It makes a real difference to the lives of many of our lowest-paid workers and protects them from exploitation. It also creates a level playing field for business and boosts the economy.”
Enforcement
The government also wants to crack down on those employers not paying the correct amount, with the maximum penalty increased to an unlimited fine.
More than £27m in unpaid wages has been recovered on behalf of 80,000 workers since 1999.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber welcomed the policy, saying both workers and law-abiding employers would benefit from the system being as robust as possible.
He also welcomed the latest increase in the minimum wage.
“The Low Pay Commission (LPC) was right to withstand pressure from business warning of economic trouble ahead,” he said.
“The truth is that employers will be able to absorb these sensible increases without too much difficulty.”
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