Are you one of 500,000 people on minimum wage who are being UNDERPAID?

According to the Low Pay Commission, up to half a million people could be getting less than they should

- Martin Lewis

The UK minimum wage increased on 1 April – upping incomes for the lowest-paid workers. Yet many who think they’re on the minimum wage are actually being paid LESS than they should.

What’s the minimum wage? The minimum wage is the legal minimum an employer can pay anyone working in any UK nation, and the rate varies by age. The rate since 1 April 2022 is as follows:

• Apprentices: £4.81
• Under-18s: £4.81
• Age 18-20: £6.83
• Age 21-22: £9.18
• Age 23 and over: £9.50

Confusingly, back in 2015, the then Chancellor George Osborne announced he was renaming the ‘minimum wage’ for then over-25s (now over-23s) as the ‘national living wage. I spoke out at the time, as this was stealing the brand of the Living Wage Foundation – a charity I’ve long supported.

Each year, the Living Wage Foundation announces its REAL living wage; a voluntary employers’ wage scheme, based on an assessment of the actual cost of living (and it’s due an update soon). Currently, in the UK, it’s set at £9.90 per hour, except London where it’s £11.05 per hour – so higher than the minimum wage above – but not compulsory.

Almost 10,000 UK employers have pledged to pay the real living wage. You can check whether yours is one of them on livingwage.org.uk.