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
More on
I get £7.12/hour
£10.68/hour on a Saturday
£14.24/hour on a Sunday
I’m and love my job whilst I’m at college
I earn roughly £200-£250 a week for 3 days work on a Tuesday Saturday and Sunday plus it must be the easiest job around seriously im a life guard and work for a council pool 😀 15min work 15min break through out every single shift 😀
Hey everyone when i first left school finding a job wasnt easy but i already had a background from music so i set out to start djin discos karaoke etc then worked in fish factory to save all my money for equipment on £5 odd n hour at 17 wasnt bad i done a whole month to earn enough to go n buy all my equipment then set up as self employed and now earn my own wage and work for no one else bar my self and its a really good laugh i have good fun with the customers and all the staff within the hotels pubs n venues i go to i only work no between 4-7 hours a night friday n saturday n get between £150 – 300 for the night i also manger couple bands soloists so bring bit extra money in for the gigs they do from my books so i use the min wage for a guide line in what people are paid n the bands make min wage and commition on the gig pending how good it went and the feed back made so they make about £30 for 4 hours which what 7.50 pound n hour for 16 year olds then if they done good gig they get extra £10 for bonus but all judged by the event holders not me.
but i agree min wage for 13+s as they need something to enhance there abilitys to seek work in the future! also waged between 16- 21 should be just under 12+ not like nearly £1 just £0.30p then they wouldnt loss as much as full payin adult so like my self its easier to pay rent food and little things like clothe highly important lol
Many thanks
Adam Sayers
DJ Sayers Live Roadshow
My Sweet Surrender
URGGHHH i feel that the minimum wage should be hired becasue people like Kim Knight are saying that we should all go to collage and imporve oour earning potentials.. well kim i cant afford to put myself through collage or univeraity becasue i work all the spare time i get and only earn £35.70 and that is barely enought for half my weeks rent well actually my rent is just nder double that!! and do you know what we can do to and what i feel most business should do is to GET RID OF FOREIGNERS because they are siomply taking outr jobs !! i mean come on guys when was the last time you went into a restaraunt wether that me a nice one or simply just kfc and a british person servered you i cant remeber !! also i feel that if the goverment wants us to spend out money in shops and increase the economy they should increase the minimum wage because if i can barely afford to live how am i going to afford to buy things !!
also i get very annoyed when peoplle who do the same job as me get more money i mean come on that could be claseed as discrimination against younger people who work just as hard and for what !! 3.57 and hour !!
EMA
what is with that BENIFITS for younsters!!
everyone should get it or no one !!
i mean come on why should my friends get money for turning up at school and i dont !!
so because my parents could be bothered went to school and got okay jobs and earn just over the maximum for ema i should not be able to ema while others do !!
and i fully understand why people turn to other means of getting money when if i work all the hours god sends me i will only get £30 for a weeks work and when i factor in my bus transport to and from collage every day i am still 4pounds short meaning that i need to find anither 4 pounds a week and thats mean then i can ONLY just afford to get to anf from collage !!!
i also think it’s wrong but if you want the money get on with the job you all do stupid little jobs no offence like resturant work im doing a carpet fitting apprenticeship at a local carpet shop and its hard graft i always have to carry carpets which are heavy and underlay and the gripers my hands are ripped to shreads and ive already cut the top of my phumb with a stanly knife and hit my hand with a hammer very hard so stop moaning and get on with it im on £3.53 like all of you but just stop moaning i work mon-sat 7.30-5 olcock so just get on with it and keep motivated if you need some extra money on the side do door to door selling to pick some extra cash up 🙂
We all have to start at the bottom and work our way up the ladder. Young people cannot do some of the things older people can do……by law. ie working some types of machinery …..food slicers etc.
I started out on a low wage when I left school and through gaining experience in this job I started my own business.
I employ lots of youger people and older people but I must say the older people in my experience are more reliable and dont have an attitude problem like some of the younger people.
The world doesnt owe you a living. Work hard start at the bottom doing the menial jobs and work your way up the ladder
Hahaha Im 16 And I Get £4.75 per hour
Hey guys im a 17 year old girl and im in full time education, ive been working in a kitchen for about a year, im a sous chef/salad chef/ waitress and i get £8 per hour. I started on £5 an hour. Today i worked for 3 hours and got £30, a bonus of £6. I think it just depends on how hard you work. If you work harder you boss may decide to pay you more… rather like mine has clearly done 🙂 Sammi x
i just started working for a hairdressers on a saturday 8:30-5:00 and am getting £10-a-week. i do like working here but surely this pay is too small, things need to change x
Im working 5 days a week and 8 hours a day for 100 quid lol
im working 9 till 5 , monday to friday, for £20 a day, bt im 15 so i reckon its not that bad :)! Whys everyone so annoyed though, its only minimum wage, not what you gonna be on, if their kind, and if ur so bothered go get your qualifications!
well i work 42 hours a week and get paid about £1.80 an hour ? how pathetic.
…well i work 42 hours a week and get paid about £1.80 an hour ? how pathetic.
when I left school i did a (working class) apprenticeship and received around 1/5th of the mens wages.
This would equate to around £58 – £60 a week today, full time. It wasnt much, but you learned a trade and the employers could afford 2 or 3 of us.
Prices for ‘teenage’ goods and night clubs were correspondingly cheaper as a result of there being less money in the system, so it was enough to enjoy myself and still save at least £1 a week.
Today, as an employer, I’d have to find £134.75, over double, for the same 16 year old. As a result I dont have any apprentices, and the youngsters have to look for the government for training, which is both costly to the taxpayer and often less than relevant in what you learn (as opposed to ‘on-the-job’ training).
The result is mass youth unemployment and zero aspiration.