What is the national living wage in the UK?

The national living wage should be introduced to help put a stop to income inequalities in the UK. The National Living Wage was introduced in April last year for workers aged 25 and above and is currently set at £7.50 an hour. However, people under 25, are still paid the lower National Minimum Wage. Similarly, the national living wage is a government regulation to which all workers receive it is the company itself which decides to give you a National minimum wage or National living wage. Living Wage Foundation director Katherine Chapman urged more employers to sign up to the scheme, said that “In-work poverty is today’s story, the new living wage rates will bring relief for thousands of UK workers being squeezed by stagnant wages and rising inflation.” The voluntary rate is to rise by 30p an hour to £8.75. For those living in London, the rate will rise by 45p to £10.20 an hour. Over 3,600 firms are signed up to the scheme, including big names like Ikea and Google. An advantage of this is that people under the age of 25 years old currently earning the National minimum wage would be more than £2,500 better off under these proposals. However, a disadvantage is that workers in parts of London and the South East are hardly going to see any benefit. Only 3% of employees in London will see an increase in their wages, but at the same time, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has predicted that tens of thousands of workers could lose their jobs or have their hours reduced as many employers try and compensate for the extra cost.