Jeremy Hunt Confirms National Living Wage To Increase To £11 An Hour
Hey Deal Hunters,
Big news from the Tory conference: Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, has announced that from April 2024, the national living wage will be increasing to at least £11 an hour. In a speech at the conference, Hunt said the aim is to benefit 2 million of the lowest paid workers.
The national living wage is the minimum amount workers over the age of 23 can be paid by law per hour. It is currently £10.42 an hour, so this change will see an increase of a minimum of 58p per hour.
As well as speaking about the future of the national living wage, Hunt also announced that the government will be looking at the benefits system, particularly the requirement to be looking for work that applies to certain benefits. No specific plans were announced on this however.
Tom Church, Co-Founder of shopping community LatestDeals.co.uk, had this to say: “A rise in the national living wage is certainly a positive move forward for many in the UK. As consumers, this will allow a bit more freedom in the budget. Let’s hope businesses follow suit with deals and offers that match the uplifted wage."
A very, very bad idea to increase the NLW so soon. Employers will cut the number of hours given to part-timers, zero hours workers as "revenge". My employer does this.
My employer has a small pub business. He's already decided to cut the hours of the part time casual bar staff due to all round rising costs and they'll be cut further with the next rise in minimum wage. It means he'll have to cover more hours himself and/ or expect the staff to do more in the short periods allowed for opening and closing down.
All very well, but employers will either cut the employees working hours or increase their prices to pay for the extra increase in wages, and prices in shops etc. will go up again. Some will have to start paying income tax, due to the extra money taking them over the tax-free allowance, and those that receive benefits to top up their income, will see these benefit payments reduced. Same old "roundabout", they give you it with one hand, and take it away with the other, so people are no better off, indeed some could end up worse off.