National Living Wage will rise to £9.50 an hour

The 59p increase for workers over 23 – up 6.6% from £8.91 reflects the inflationary pressure outlined here a few weeks ago.

The new rates will rise from 1 April 2022 as follows:

• National Living Wage for over-23s: From £8.91 to £9.50 an hour
• National Minimum Wage for those aged 21-22: From £8.36 to £9.18
• National Minimum Wage for 18 to 20-year-olds: From £6.56 to £6.83
• National Minimum Wage for under-18s: From £4.62 to £4.81
• The Apprentice Rate: From £4.30 to £4.81

Note – some of you may have missed that the age threshold for the top rate fell from 25 to 23 this year.

The current rates are here.

This may all look very generous at first glance, but a lot of it will get swallowed up by the tax/NIC rises, the universal credit cut that has just landed, and, of course, the higher energy and fuel bills that disproportionately hit low-income households, according to The Resolution Foundation.

Bectu has a policy of pushing for The Living Wage / London Living Wage wherever possible and those rates will be updated on the 15th November 2021.

The real #LivingWage is independently calculated and updated annually on 15th Nov to reflect changing living costs. The ‘National Living Wage’ is changed by the government. #Budget2021 (3/7)

— Living Wage Foundation (@LivingWageUK) October 27, 2021

The living wage foundation says that compliant employers should implement the rise ASAP, and and within 6 months of the announcement at the latest.