Poverty group welcomes minimum wage rise
20.03.06

Responding to today’s announcement about increases in the minimum wage from October, the Child Poverty Action Group’s Chief Executive Kate Green said:

“Since half of children living in poverty are in households with one or more adults in paid work, the minimum wage increase is to be warmly welcomed.

“For paid work to be an effective route out of poverty, employers must pay a decent wage and so we look forward to further above inflation increases in the years ahead. Neither the minimum wage nor increases in its rate have led to the higher unemployment levels some feared.

“To meet a low pay threshold of 60 per cent of full-time median earnings the minimum wage would need to rise to around £6.40, so there is still much further to go. We also hope that the Low Pay Commission will significantly raise the lower rates for younger workers on the road to establishing a single minimum wage rate for all.”

Today’s announcement confirms that the minimum wage will increase by 30p to £5.35 an hour from October. The rate for workers aged 18 to 21 will rise by 20p to £4.45 while workers aged 16 and 17 will see their minimum rate increased by 30p to £3.30 an hour.

For further information please contact:
Alex Belardinelli
CPAG Press Officer
Tel. 020 7812 5216 or 07816 909302
abelardinelli@cpag.org.uk