Healey to ‘increase minimum wage by 3.9 per cent’

Chancellor John Healey will reportedly hike the minimum wage by nearly four per cent at the Budget, setting the floor for wages for all over 21-year-olds at £13.20 for the next year. Healey is expected to deliver a huge pay increase of 3.9 per cent to low-wage workers on Wednesday, according to The Times. However, the increase will also mark the end of the government’s desire to equalise wages for under 21-year-olds with other adults. The national living wage could rise from £12.71 to £13.20 while the national minimum wage, which applies to younger workers, will also only rise by 3.9 per cent from £10.85 to £11.27. The policy is popular among voters although business chiefs have long warned that extra staff could add to pressures in the jobs market and force them to raise prices. Increases in the minimum wage by former Chancellor Rachel Reeves were cited as a reason for rising unemployment. The unemployment rate is at 4.7 per cent, rising from around 4.4 per cent in t