The minimum wage for workers aged 16-18 is £4.55 (April 2020-21)
For workers, aged 18-20 is currently £6.45 (April 2020-21)
Readers Question: What are the minimum wage rates for 16, 17 and 18-year-olds. Should the minimum wage be increased? Should there be a minimum wage rate for children under 16?
Minimum Wage Rates from April 2020
- £8.72 – 25 and over
- £8.20 – Age 21-24
- £6.45 – Age 18-20
- £4.55 – Under 18
- £4.15 – Apprentice rate. (An apprentice means the firm has to devote a certain time to training the worker. Traditionally apprentices get lower pay to compensate the firms’ cost of training them.
Can 13, 14, and 15-year-olds get a minimum wage rate?
No, the minimum wage rate only applies to workers who are 16 and above.
The youngest age your child can work part-time is 13 years old, with the exception of children involved in: television, drama, film. [1. Child employment Direct gov]
Do young workers benefit from a national minimum wage?
Benefits of Min Wage
- A minimum wage is an effective tool for increasing wages of the lowest paid group of workers.
- Since the minimum wage has been introduced in 1997, unemployment has fallen, suggesting fears over real-wage unemployment have been misplaced.
- Minimum wages can increase labour productivity. Workers can feel more motivated with higher wages (efficiency wage theory). Also, if firms have to pay more, then they have an incentive to invest in workers and capital to increase labour productivity.
- In an era of low real wage growth, the minimum wage has played an increasing role in causing higher living standards.
Concerns over minimum wage
- An argument advanced is national minimum wage increases costs for firms and this can discourage employment opportunities. If the minimum wage rate rises too fast, it could cause unemployment in the future.
- The gap between workers under 18 and over 25 means that firms have a cost incentive to substitute older workers for younger workers. In labour intensive industries (e.g. fast food) firms may prefer to give longer hours to the youngest workers because they are nearly 50% cheaper than mature workers.
- Blackmarket. Another issue is that a legal minimum may encourage firms to pay young workers in cash and avoid legal restrictions.
- Regional inequality of wages. A national minimum wage can cause unemployment in the northeast (where wages are low) but have little effect in London, where wages are higher.
Does a minimum Wage encourage Labour market Participation?
- In theory, increasing the minimum wage for 16-18 year old workers would increase the incentive to join the labour market because work will become more attractive compared to studying at school and not earning.
- However, the minimum wage for 16 and 17 year-olds is still relatively low. It is £4.20 for people under 18. Therefore, the benefit of working on the minimum wage may still seem insignificant compared to the benefits from studying and getting qualifications which will enable higher lifetime earnings.
- Also, many 16 and 17 year-olds probably live rent free therefore there is not the same economic necessity to go out and get a job.
- Personally, I think the effect of a minimum wage for 16-18 year olds is relatively insignificant, I can’t think of many students who would give up A-levels just so that they could go and work in McDonald’s for £4.20 an hour.
- What is most likely is that there will be an increase in the participation of young workers doing part-time jobs in addition to studying full time.
Case for Increasing the Minimum Wage Rate
- Unfair firms can pay a lower wage rate to young workers doing the same job as people over 21.
- Efficiency Wage Theory – the idea if you pay a higher wage, you will get greater motivation and labour productivity.
Problems of Increasing the Minimum Wage Rate for young workers
- Could lead to unemployment and fewer job opportunities. Many firms may be unwilling to employ workers if there is a significant increase in the minimum wage rate. This would particularly affect labour-intensive industries like hairdressers and cafes.
- Arguably young workers lack experience, and so firms need to spend time and money on training them. Therefore a lower minimum wage rate is justified to pay for the costs of on-the-job training.
How Does the UK compare to other countries?
The UK minimum wage compares well compared to other countries like the US, Spain and Portugal, but still lower than some EU countries. International minimum wage rates
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were should i get a job im 16 and i will work as hard ar anyone at any age all i want is a bit of money to save up for a motobike
I like To Have an Job Please Tell Me Where I can Find A job Like uR Son Or Else plzz tell me Add me up in yahoo….
Cause i have no family member left ..
thx
i work the equivalent of half a day just over (13 hours), in a week, still at school sixteen. And earning approximatley £60 a week. i get paid 3.50 at a pub, and im not worried about the seven pence im missing out on though and 5 pound a hour at a chinese. so all in all, rather pleased!
is it fair, i am just about to leave school and my mum wants £100 a month rent ?
My dads keeps on saying to me to get a kob but how do i get one? Anyone help me????
I have just collected my daughter who was asked to help out at a major theatre close to where we live. She started work at 10:00 this morning and finished around 23:00 this evening. I asked how much they paid for the work. She said £10.00. I asked what, £10.00 per hour. She said no, £10.00. I will be having strong words with the organisers tomorrow. She and a friend were asked to help. It might have been good for the experience but at that rate, the organisers will no longer use my daughter as a slave!!!
I am 18 years old and work in a pub for £4.83 an hour. Minimum wage for my age. However one of the lads that work there is on £5 an hour at 17. It’s the choice of the bosses. He has been working there a lot longer than I have and so thats why he earns more but I don’t think it’s right. I live at home but don’t ask my parents for money as I do earn my own however one week I will work 17.5 hours and get almost £90 and other times I will work only 8 hours. Minimum wage for adults, under 22’s and 16-17 yr olds is a joke. I would love to be able to live away from home at eighteen but I simply can’t afford it and can’t get a second job as I am a full time college student studying for my btec diploma. I don’t like being payed only this much but need the money to much to give it up. Either continue your studies and get a part time job and be greatful that the goverment let you have a minimum wage or don’t work or quit studies and get a full time job it’s your choice there has got to be a reason your working for so little right??? otherwise you wouldn’t do it
im a kitchen portar nearly 17 years old earing 3.50 an hour.. i can work long hours up to 10 hours on weekends and its a tough job for what i have to do.
and everyone is complaining, its a job your earning money.
I’m 16 and currently work at a quad centre as an instructor, my wage works out at 2.94 an hour for working 9:30 – 18:00. I am now looking for a full time job for the summer but i have found allot of places wont take on 16 years old because they ‘cant deal with responsibility’ and ‘have no experience’. So am stuck working wear I am :/
I work in a 5 star hotel and get paid 3.60 an hour, i am treated like a slave and can not put a foot wrong. I do not live at home and struggle to pay my rent and afford food every week. Just as someone is older does not mean they are doing a better job, the minimun wage should be the same for everyone! This really makes me angry, a lot of people my age do not live at home, people asume 16year olds still live at home getting money of their parents this is not a fair judgement as i know loads of people that don’t and i dont feel people relise this. My sister is 22 and lives with her boyfriend and my other sister, the 3 of them struggle and the goverment expect £3.60 and hour enough to live off! It is rediculous!
Im on just under £5 an hour, and im 16 🙂 i love my job.
hi i’m 15 and i’m looking for a job that pays well and i can do asa well as going to college when i turn 16 if anyone has any ideas please reply i would rather work somewere better than morrisons lol 🙂
Adults dont understand our feelings… all they care about is themselfs having to earn more. IF they were in our positions i doubt they wouldnt like it too. so STFU ADULTS saying we are LUCKY to have some SH*T job like cleaning etc. why dont you try taking our job and see how would you like it eh? earning £1-4 is no way enough. You say we dont have experience… pfft we think more wiser than most adults out there and work much harder.
My uncle is about 40 years old now and he is having difficult times in work. He is getting £400 a month and thats no good! i begin to wonder how can you live in those wages. some of you get less than my uncle and he is having problems taking care of himself. he spends money each day to travel etc. and you guys are getting less. i feel sorry for you.
Hi, just to let you know to those adults who thinks we are “lucky” to get a low paid job. Are stupid and fools.
“BEN” i totally agree with you 😀 you see… people these days are idiots… *cough* KIM etc *cough*
how do you expect us to live with the low wages we get. why dont you try doing our jobs – washing the dishes, cleaning the floor etc. Hard work jobs. i highly doubt you wouldnt like it. also makes me want to punch something too 😛
Also what do you mean by “welcome to the REAL WORLD”? lol you are silly… we are all in the SAME WORLD so treat us fairly.
oh yeah, WHO GIVES A SH*T ABOUT THE AGE?
alot of teenagers work harder, longer and better than adults then why does AGE matters. and we get paid way less.
i really do feel sorry for some of you out there. i see your comments. i understand how you guys feel. They really need to TUNE UP THE WAGES!!!
LIFE IS TOO SHORT so just pay us more wages instead of having us waiting till we are old enough.
TBH i think that adults are just selfish and doesnt want to give us more money because they want to keep more themselves and make us work as SLAVES. we are not slaves… pfft.
IMO we teenagers think more wiser than most adults out there. Kellie you totally right. We pay for most things now, even when i buy traveling ticket for 1 day (children as well) it cost me £8.50!!! and we dont even earn that much in an hour. just how fast money can go! therefore government reduce the prices…
one more thing…VAT is increasing next year. everything from stores for cost 5% more! that just sucks.
Peace out.