The recent Budget maintained the existing pay gap by applying matching percentage increases across different age brackets rather than equalizing them. Consequently, 2026 rates will reach £11.27 per hour for 18 to 20-year-olds compared to £13.21 for older employees. Chancellor Healey defended the phased timeline as necessary to protect entry-level hiring while also signaling broader fiscal discipline through departmental spending reductions.
Key points
Equal pay for younger workers may not be achieved before the next general election despit…: Equal pay for younger workers may not be achieved before the next general election despite the 2024 Labour manifesto commitment.
The Chancellor faces potential conflict with trade unions and left-wing Labour lawmakers…: The Chancellor faces potential conflict with trade unions and left-wing Labour lawmakers over the decision to delay wage equalization.
Broader departmental spending reductions aimed at reducing national debt will be determin…: Broader departmental spending reductions aimed at reducing national debt will be determined in next year's spending review and decade-long plan.
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The Chancellor, John Healey, has suggested that younger workers might not receive the same minimum wage as others before the next election, potentially breaking a Labour manifesto promise.
In 2024, Labour said it would remove "discriminatory age bands", vowing to end the gap between the adult minimum wage and pay for 18 to 20-year-olds.
But in last week's Budget, Healey said that younger workers would see the same increase as older workers, leaving a gap between the two rates this year.
Pay for 18 to 20-year-olds in 2026 will rise to £11.27, while over-20s will be paid a minimum of £13.21 an hour.
In a BBC interview to be broadcast on Sunday, Healey was asked if younger workers would be paid the same as older workers, when it comes to the minimum wage, by the time of the next election?
"We'll take one step at a time," he said, suggesting that Labour might abandon its plan to close the gap before the next election.
It is a change that is likely to anger the unions and some on…
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