National living wage to increase by nearly 5% from April 2019

Increases to the National Minimum Wage have been announced which will benefit 2.4 million workers.

From April 2019: 

The National Living Wage (paid to workers aged 25 and over) will increase from £7.83 to £8.21.

Rates for the hourly NMW rates will increase:

• By 4.3% for 21-24 year olds - from £7.38 to £7.70 
• By 4.2% for 18- to 20 year-olds - from £5.90 to £6.15 
• By 3.6% for 16-18 year olds - from £4.20 to £4.35 
• By 5.4% for apprentices - from £3.70 to £3.90

The accommodation offset will increase by 7.9% from £7.00 to £7.55.

The chair of the Low Pay Commission, Bryan Sanderson said that on current forecasts, the National Living Wage, payable to workers aged 25 or over, will reach £8.62 by 2020.

Chair of LPC: “We recommended real-terms increases to the national minimum wage (NMW) rates for younger workers and apprentices, as the labour market conditions for these groups remain strong. These rates will continue to rise faster than both inflation and average earnings."”