Minimum wage to rise to £9.50 an hour from April 2022

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Minimum wage to rise to £9.50 an hour from April

Minimum wages are set to rise again next April, increasing to £9.50 an hour.

From April 2022, the National Living Wage will increase by 59 pence, or 6.6%, to £9.50 whilst the national minimum wage rates for younger workers will also increase.

Those aged 21-22 will earn £9.18 an hour, an 82p rise, whilst 18-20 year olds will receive £6.83 an hour, an increase of 27p.

16 and 17-year-olds will receive £4.81 an hour, a 19p increase, whilst the minimum wage for apprentices will increase by 51p, bringing it in line with the 16-17-year-old rate.

Currently the National Living Wage applies to those 23 and over, having been lowered from 25 in April 2021. The threshold will be further reduced to 21 by 2024, following recommendations made by the Low Pay Commission independent body in Autumn 2019.

Bryan Sanderson, Low Pay Commission Chair, said: “The rates we recommended will put money in the pockets of care-workers, food distributors and many other groups of the lowest-paid members of our society up and down the UK. Many of them have made a vital contribution during the last few difficult months.

“The impact on communities is considerable: Blackpool, for example, will benefit by at least £6.1m from pay increases to its low-paid workers.

“The pandemic has been an exceptionally difficulty period for businesses and workers alike, but the labour market has recovered strongly and the economy is expected to continue to grow over the next year. This is attributable in no small part to comprehensive government support.

“Our value as a social partnership is to find a consensus recommendation acceptable to both sides of industry.”