National Living Wage set to rise by 6.6 per cent

The UK’s national “living wage” is set to be increased from £8.91 per hour to £9.50, the BBC has reported.

The living wage is based on the cost of living and is voluntarily paid to over-23s by more than 8,500 UK employers.

The Commission has been examining an increase from £8.91 to approximately £9.42 in April 2022.

This would mean a hike of 6.6 per cent, over double current consumer price inflation rated of 3.1 per cent.

It is also anticipated that other national minimum wage rates will rise.

National Living Wage

The independent commission submitted its recommendations to the government earlier this month, and ministers are expected to announce their plans early this week.

It is expected that the chancellor Rishi Sunak with lay out plans to increase the figure to over £10 by the next general election.

Analysis released by the Trade Union Congress today concludes that: “real wage growth likely zero in the private sector and negative in the public sector; sectors reporting shortages have had poor pay and conditions for years” and that “outside of isolated pockets, high vacancies are not driving up wages”.

Pay was frozen across public sector roles last November apart from for NHS staff, and public servants earning below £24,000.

The Chancellor told the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme that he will lay out a “new pay policy” in this week’s budget, explaining: “We thought that was reasonable and fair” given the trends of pay in the private sector, but added that: “Now going forward, we’ll have to set a new pay policy.”

This news comes amid rising concerns regarding the cost of living as experts forecast a surge in inflation.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), Britain’s oldest independent economic research institute, has said inflation will surpass 4% next year.

The NIESR claimed that short-term pressures, such as soaring energy bills, supply chain issues and worker shortages will increase consumer prices over the coming months.