Today it was confirmed that the National Living Wage would be set to increase from £8.91 to £9.50 an hour. The change will come into effect in April.
This change comes after mounting pressure on the government to help low paid and younger workers, who were the worst hit by the recent Covid-19 pandemic and it’s various associated lockdowns.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak championed this rise as “making work pay”.
However, Bridget Phillipson, Labour’s shadow chief secretary to the treasury described this raise as an “underwhelming offer”.
This rise comes during a period of higher tax rates, universal credit cuts and soaring energy prices, which will leave many people questioning whether this will be a ‘real terms’ pay rise, or if the increase in pay will just ‘disappear’ to increasing bills and the rising cost of living.
