National Living Wage increases today

There have been a number of excellent April Fool's gags today, far better than my effort, but this story is not an April Fool.

The National Living Wage has increases today, raising the living standards of millions of people and providing more incentive to work - more reward for those who make a contribution to the economy.



The National Living Wage rises today to £8.21 an hour.
That means 1.8 million people will be £690 better off this year.
That means adult full-time workers who were on the previous minimum wage will be £2,750 better off than in 2015.

When the Minimum wage was introduced there was concern - and I shared it - that this might increase unemployment. If the level were set at an unrealistically high level there would be a danger of pricing people out of work.

But neither the original minimum wage nor the National Living Wage introduced by the Conservatives were set at an uneconomic level, and any negative effect has been offset by the positive effect of providing more incentives to get a job. Record numbers of people are in work - and the bulk of the increase is in permanent full-time jobs.

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