AFP, London :
Britain’s minimum wage rises by 7.5 percent on Friday in a re-branding exercise by the Conservative government that has been denounced by critics as largely symbolic in an era of state austerity.
Around 1.8 million employees will benefit from the National Living Wage (NLW).
Workers aged 25 and over will now earn a minimum hourly gross wage of o7.20 ($10.36/9.10 euros) compared with o6.70 under the former so-called minimum wage.
The new increased amount is comparable with minimum wage rates in Germany, currently 8.50 euros, and in France, where it stands at almost 9.70 euros.
In Britain, where unemployment is relatively low at around 5.0 percent, large inequalities nonetheless persist and London School of Economics professor Alan Manning described the NLW as “more symbolic” than anything else. “It’s significant but I don’t think one should exaggerate its significance,” he told AFP.
Britain’s minimum wage rises by 7.5 percent on Friday in a re-branding exercise by the Conservative government that has been denounced by critics as largely symbolic in an era of state austerity.
Around 1.8 million employees will benefit from the National Living Wage (NLW).
Workers aged 25 and over will now earn a minimum hourly gross wage of o7.20 ($10.36/9.10 euros) compared with o6.70 under the former so-called minimum wage.
The new increased amount is comparable with minimum wage rates in Germany, currently 8.50 euros, and in France, where it stands at almost 9.70 euros.
In Britain, where unemployment is relatively low at around 5.0 percent, large inequalities nonetheless persist and London School of Economics professor Alan Manning described the NLW as “more symbolic” than anything else. “It’s significant but I don’t think one should exaggerate its significance,” he told AFP.
